


Soul of a Lion

by Kishirokitsune



Series: Raised by the Blade [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adviser-in-Training Hunk, Altean Hunk (Voltron), Altean Lance (Voltron), Altean Magic (Voltron), Alternate Universe, F/M, Galra Shiro (Voltron), Half-Galra Keith (Voltron), Half-Galra Pidge, Pidge and Keith grew up in the Blade of Marmora, Slow Burn Allura/Lance, Teambuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28476090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kishirokitsune/pseuds/Kishirokitsune
Summary: Sequel to The Smallest Blade.After the Red Lion steals them away from the Marmora base and takes them through a wormhole, Shiro, Keith, Katla, and Lance find themselves in front of a majestic castle with nowhere to go but inside. The events that unfold while they're there will change the fate of the universe.
Relationships: Allura/Lance (Voltron), Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Keith/Pidge (Voltron), Keith/Pidge | Katie Holt
Series: Raised by the Blade [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2085729
Comments: 24
Kudos: 57





	1. The Red Lion

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone and Happy New Year! I figured there was no better way to start of 2021 than by posting the first chapter of a brand new fic, so here it is!
> 
> That said, this _is_ a sequel and I recommend reading The Smallest Blade before this, otherwise you'll probably be a little confused about what's happening. This picks up exactly where we left off in the final chapter.

Keith tightly gripped the controls, trying his best to redirect the Red Lion away from the glowing vortex, but she didn't respond no matter what he tried. He sent up a silent prayer that they weren't being dragged into immediate danger and then had to tightly shut his eyes against the intensity of the light. It only took a second and then they broke through the other side and he was able to open his eyes again.

“Where are we?” Katla asked, her voice close to him. He glanced to his left as she released her grasp on the back of his seat so she could step forward and get a better look at the navigation system. “Wait... but this is the Javeeno Star System. It should have taken us _movements_ to get here!”

“Instantaneous transport. I know some of our brightest scientists and engineers have been working on it, but none of them have even come close. Not even the empire has been able to replicate the technology that allowed Alteans to travel so quickly, so how did we manage it?” Shiro asked, mostly to himself.

Katla was quick with a suggestion. “The Lion?”

“You think it could have been storing the energy until the right moment?”

While Shiro and Katla debated exactly how they were able to travel so quickly, Keith took his hands off of the controls and turned his attention to Lance instead. The Altean stood off by himself, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared at the floor, clearly upset about something. Keith assumed it had something to do with the fact that he tried to take off with the Lion on his own.

He wanted to be angry. Furious. But the fire in his veins ebbed away the longer Keith watched Lance. Even after the years the Altean had spent with them, there were still times when he didn't know what to make of Lance. There was something about him that rubbed Keith the wrong way. He was just...  _obnoxious_ .

But Keith couldn't deny that he was a good friend and whatever was happening with the Red Lion wasn't his fault, no matter how much Keith wanted to place the blame on him.

“What do you think about all of this, Lance?” he asked.

Lance looked surprised to be addressed, especially by Keith. “Me? I- I don't know about any of this! I swear, Keith!”

“I wasn't accusing you of anything, I just wanted to know what you think!” Keith snapped back.

“Well, you're the one who bonded with this thing! You'd know better than any of us!” Lance exclaimed.

“Forget it!” Keith grit his teeth and turned away from the Altean. Why did he even bother? He focused instead on the screen and the readouts the Lion was giving them. They were rapidly approaching a small, blue-and-green planet which had breathable air and a plethora of plant and animal life. According to what he read, the name of the planet was Arus and the beings who lived there were simply known as the Arusians.

The only thing that made him worry was the fact that the Javeeno Star System was the territory of a fearsome Galra general named Sendak, who was as ruthless as he was loyal to Emperor Zarkon. If they were caught by him or any of his men, he wasn't sure they would make it out alive.

They would have to tread carefully.

“Why have you brought us here?” Keith quietly asked the Lion.

The Red Lion answered with a roar as they broke the atmosphere, rapidly coming in for a landing on top of some cliffs bordering one of the oceans. As they grew closer, the air rippled in front of them and Keith could make out a grid-like pattern resembling a particle barrier. Before he could shout a warning, the barrier split open and revealed a massive white castle perched on the highest plateau. They easily passed through and it closed behind them.

“They've reworked their particle barrier into adaptive camouflage! How cool is that!” Katla squealed in excitement. “I've always wondered if it would be possible to use the electromagnetic radiation emitted by a barrier in conjunction with metamaterials built into the foundation of a ship in order to achieve some sort of invisibility in flight and this might prove that theory! I _have_ to know how it works!”

“You just might get that chance,” Shiro told her as they landed just outside the massive main door.

The lighting in the cockpit went dim as the Red Lion landed and then went perfectly still, clearly indicating that they should all disembark and go into the castle. Shiro reached out and grabbed Katla's arm when she attempted to be the first one off, gently guiding her back into Keith's arms so he could take her place and lead the younger cubs (plus Lance) out of the Lion and into unfamiliar territory.

Katla calmed once they were on solid ground, her excitement over new tech tempered by the fact that they had no idea what they were about to face once they were inside. She easily fell into step alongside Keith, one hand in his while the other was loose at her side, ready to grab her blade if the situation called for it. Keith was much the same, though he was less subtle about the way his hand kept straying towards his knife.

Lance fell somewhere in the middle of their group, weaponless but no less alert to the potential of danger. He stuck a little closer to Shiro as they walked towards the massive main door. They all slowed as they drew close, unsure of how they would get in.

The Red Lion let out a roar that shook the ground with its intensity, which caused all of them to flinch and look around in suspicion. The only thing that happened was that the door opened to allow them inside.

“What _is_ this place?” Katla wondered out loud, craning her head back to try and take in the entire structure. “The architecture... I've never seen anything like it! I wonder who built it.”

“Alteans,” Lance muttered in a surprisingly bitter tone. As if in response to his emotions, the purple of his disguised appearance shifted to a shade closer to blue, serving to better hide the markings high on his cheeks.

Shiro chanced one curious glance back at the only non-Galra of their group. “Anything we need to worry about?”

Lance shrugged.

“Maybe the Lion disabled any sort of security when it brought us here?” Katla suggested.

“Stay alert anyway,” Shiro instructed. “Basic infiltration protocol. Anything happens, find your way back to the Lion. Lance, stay with me.”

Everyone agreed to his commands and then they walked inside. The tick they stepped through the door, the lights of the grand entryway lit up around them, illuminating white floors and walls, all of which had a thin layer of dust coating it and turning it gray. As they walked farther into the castle, the blue lights of a hallway to the left began to flicker to life as though the castle was trying to guide them to where they were needed.

Shiro followed the lights.

There was no sign of life that any of them could tell, though they passed by a number of closed doors along the way.

“It's strange that there isn't more security,” Keith mentioned.

“I guess they're counting on the barrier to keep out any intruders. And like I said before, it could be that the Lion was able to disable whatever security they did have in place,” Katla said.

Keith vaguely gestured down the long hallway with his free hand. “There aren't any cameras. Nothing to suggest any type of surveillance or space for drones to hide until they're activated. None of the doors are reinforced with pin codes. If we wanted to detour, I bet they'd open just by one of us pressing our hands to the panel.”

“I'd rather not test that theory,” Shiro spoke up.

Keith dropped his hand back to his side. “My point is this ship isn't fortified for battle. I'd argue that the barrier is its sole defense.”

“It must have a way of quickly getting out of range of any attack. Maybe it's really fast?” Katla suggested. “Or... Well, the Red Lion brought us here. Maybe that's part of the castle defense as well.”

“If that were the case, then she should have been _here_ and not back on Venadh,” Keith argued.

Katla inclined her head, conceding to his point. “Okay, so the barrier is the primary defense and there doesn't appear to be any internal security. This definitely isn't an Altean warship, which means it must have been used for exploration or maybe as a headquarters of some sort? I just don't see why the Red Lion brought us here if it wasn't important.”

Lance kept his silence throughout their discussion, adding none of his own thoughts or opinions. No one tried to force him to speak when it was clear there was something about the castle that was bothering him.

The debate ended abruptly when they arrived at the end of the hall and the doors slid open to admit them into a strange round room. There was a podium near the center and six circular indents in the ground.

Shiro took a single step into the room and there was a hissing sound as three of the indents cracked down the middle and then opened. Slowly, three cylindrical pods rose from their hiding spot in the floor until they clicked into place. Through the semi-translucent glass, they could make out three bipedal figures.

“Healing pods,” Keith murmured in recognition. “They're different from the ones back on base.”

Katla tried to walk closer to the pods for a better look, but Keith tugged her back to his side.

“We don't know who's in there,” he admonished.

Katla rolled her eyes but didn't make a second attempt. “We won't find out anything if we don't investigate. Besides, this is an Altean castle which means they're probably Altean.” She paused a moment as her brain caught up with her mouth and she quickly turned to Lance, a new question poised on her lips.

Her words died as Lance stepped forward with an unreadable expression on his face and pressed one palm against the tank.

There was a hissing sound as the pod farthest from them suddenly released a frigid fog, the doors peeling open to reveal a young woman with silvery-white hair. She remained upright for a moment before she lurched forward with a harsh gasp.

“Father!”

She stretched out one hand and stepped down jarringly hard with her right leg, managing to stand for less than a tick before her knees gave out and she folded weakly to the floor.

Shiro, despite all of his warnings of caution to the others, was unable to resist walking over to help someone who was in need of it. He stopped a short distance away from her and held out his hand. “Miss, are you alright?”

The Altean woman tensed and slowly turned to face Shiro, her apparent shock rapidly giving way to fear and then anger. Shiro barely had time to react before she was on her feet and unsheathing a small dagger from the folds of her dress, which she held protectively in front of her.

“Who are you?” she demanded. “How did you get on this ship? What have you done with my father?”

Shiro held up both hands placatingly and took a step back, doing his best to appear as non-threatening as possible. “I'm Shiro and we were all brought here by a Red Lion. We haven't seen anyone else on your ship, but your father could be in one of these pods.”

She didn't take her eyes off of Shiro. “Why should I trust a word that you say? You're Galra!”

“You _asked_ ,” Keith muttered barely loud enough for Katla to hear.

And then a second pod cracked open and released a cloud of freezing fog and the mustachioed Altean who sprang forth only added to the tension by attempting to attack Shiro with a loud battle-cry. Shiro side-stepped him with a bemused expression.

When Keith tried to jump in and help, it was Katla's turn to hold him back and stop him from getting into trouble.

“Enough!” Shiro commanded. “We're not any happier to be here than you are in having us here, so if you could stop for a tick maybe we can figure out why the Red Lion brought us here and how we're meant to leave.”

The male Altean froze in the middle of preparing for another attack, his face rapidly paling. “The Red...? You're lying!”

Keith bristled in Shiro's defense. “Why would we lie about that?”

“You're trying to trick us into letting our guard down! Well, I won't fall for it this time!”

“No one is trying to trick anyone,” Shiro loudly cut in, giving Keith a look warning him not to speak again. “Just calm down so we can talk this through. No more arguing. No trying to attack one another. None of us are happy about this situation, so lets take a moment to calm down and try to tackle this reasonably.”

Silence followed in the wake of Shiro's words.

The Altean woman glared at him for a moment, conveying her continued anger without saying a word, before turning so quickly on her heel that her hair fanned out around her and brushed against Shiro's closest arm. She strode over to a podium and began pressing keys on the surface, causing a holographic screen to rise up and illuminate with data in an unfamiliar script.

Shiro could see Katla trying to move so she could get a better look at the tech and was relieved when Keith kept her in place. A quick glanced at Lance let him know that their disguised Altean was behaving himself and appeared to be doing whatever he could to avoid drawing unwanted attention.

The less they aggravated theirs hosts, the better.

It was as the Altean woman let out a loud gasp of shock that the third and final pod opened. The Altean within was heavyset, with dark skin and nearly golden markings painting his upper cheeks. He lurched forward and caught himself on the sides of the pod, closing his eyes as he took a moment to reorient himself.

“...Princess, what is it?” asked the mustachioed Altean after a moment of hesitation, his attention torn between his two companions.

“Coran, I...” She trailed off, her voice trembling as she stared in horror at the screen. “We've been in there for nearly _ten-thousand decaphoebs_. We've missed so much! Everything... everything is gone! I don't understand how this is possible. What happened to the fail-safes? How were we in the cryo-pods for that long?”

Coran looked uneasy as he joined her at the podium, sharp blue eyes scanning the screen. “I wish I could say, Princess.” He turned his head towards the Altean who was still standing in one of the pods. “Hunk, could you take a look?”

Shiro recognized the exact moment the Altean – evidently named “Hunk” – fully took note of the people around him. Eyes widened, his grip tightened, and breathing quickened.

And then, miraculously, he visibily relaxed.

“You found a Lion?” Hunk asked, his voice a curious whisper.

The Princess whipped her head up. “Impossible. They _must_ be lying.”

“We're _not-!_ ” Keith's heated words came to a swift end thanks to Katla's elbow to his side.

Hunk seemed perfectly okay with ignoring his princess and instead continued to speak to Shiro, who was the closest to him. “We wouldn't be awake if you weren't brought here by one of the Lions. It's the only possible way you could have gotten through the barrier without breaking it and setting off a full lockdown. His Majesty made sure of that.”

It was a simple explanation, but more importantly it told Shiro that there was at least one of them who would be willing to hear them out instead of outright dismissing their words.

Shiro figured the best place to start was with introductions.

“I'm Shirotak,” he said, giving Hunk a slight bow. “Those two are Katla and Keith. Behind me is Lance.”

Hunk offered up a tremulous smile and a bow in return, quickly stumbling through his own introductions and finally giving up the name of the princess, who was called Allura. It was to her that he turned when he finished speaking. “Princess, maybe we should go somewhere and talk about this?”

“Yes...” she agreed, clearly reluctant. “I think that would be for the best.”


	2. The Castle of Lions

_10,000 Years Prior – Hidden in the shattered ruins of Altea_

The Castle was too still. Too quiet.

There were only four of them who remained onboard but Hunk felt as though he were completely alone. His footsteps echoed through the halls as he hurried towards the bridge, where he hoped to find one of the others. The doors parted before him as he approached, letting him continue on his way without the need to slow down.

It wasn't long before he was stepping into the bridge, where the only one in sight was King Alfor.

Hunk nearly tripped over his feet as he came to an abrupt stop, dropping into a low bow. “Your Majesty!”

King Alfor continued to input coordinates into the center console and only turned around once he was finished. He gave Hunk a sad smile as he instructed him to rise. “It is time I leave this in your capable hands.”

“Me?” Hunk's voice went high. “I don't understand. Where are Coran and Princess Allura? Shouldn't they be here too?”

King Alfor shook his head. “Someplace safe. Right now they are both too angry to do what needs to be done and I need someone with Heart to help me with what comes next. This is the only way we stand a chance, do you understand?”

“I don't, but...” Hunk's voice broke a little. “What do you need me to do?”

“I've set coordinates to a small planet over in the Javeeno Star System. Once you land, the particle barrier will activate in camouflage mode and the entire castle will be undetectable to anyone who doesn't have the right means to get inside. When the time is right, one of the Lions will return to you with the next generation of Paladins. It's the only way we can stop Zarkon,” King Alfor said firmly.

“That could take years,” Hunk said.

King Alfor nodded. “It could... And that is why you will join Coran and Allura in the cryo-pods, so that you will wake when the time is right. I wish I had the time to explain to them, however...” He paused a moment, his expression pained as he looked away. “They wish to keep fighting. I understand that, I truly do, but we cannot risk Zarkon getting his hands on the Black Lion – or any of the others.”

Hunk did understand.

The thought of the destruction that Zarkon could cause if he had _any_ of the Lions on his side, but especially the Black Lion, was more than he wanted to consider. Allura and Coran did as well, but their drive to keep moving forward and to fight back overshadowed that.

It was as King Alfor said; they would need someone gifted with Heart to help them through the events to come.

Alfor walked over to Hunk and placed both hands on the younger Altean's shoulders.“I cannot say who the Lions will choose, but you must _trust_ that they will pick those who are worthy.”

“Do you really think I can do this? Wouldn't it be better to talk to them?” Hunk asked.

“I believe in you. And should you find yourself in need of further guidance, I have made some adjustments to the Memory Chamber that you may find useful. “

“You're... You're not coming with us?” Hunk asked, realizing all at once what King Alfor wasn't telling him. What he'd been telling him all along. And it was that realization that opened the floodgates, breaking down Hunk's careful emotional shields, and all at once he was hit by the fear, the anger, and the hope that poured off of Alfor as he kept up the appearance of the calm and composed King of Altea. Hunk swallowed thickly and closed his eyes to try and rebuild his shields enough that he could think straight.

King Alfor waited until Hunk opened his eyes once more. “I must face Zarkon. If there is even the slightest chance that I can stop him before it's too late, no matter how hopeless it seems, I must take it. Please, Hunk, I need your word that you will guide my daughter and keep her from making the same mistakes that I have done.”

“I... I don't think it's a mistake that you trusted your friends,” Hunk said. He was sure he was stepping over a line, or coming very close to it, but he needed to speak his mind.

“And that is something I agree with you on,” Alfor said reassuringly. “It was not my trust that led to ruin, but my willingness to turn a blind eye to what was happening. I thought that allowing them the chance to see that what they were doing was wrong was the correct path, but in doing nothing and standing idly by, I have doomed all of Altea – and all of Daibazaal as well.”

“But-!”

“I have decided.”

Hunk didn't need to have his shields lowered to know that his King wasn't going to hear another word.

Alfor's mind was made up.

Hunk stared at him with worry, wishing he could use his gift to reach out and change his King's mind, to convince him to fall into slumber with the rest of them and waken when the time came that they would be needed once again, but he would never betray the man in such a way. Nor did Hunk truly think he had the power to do something like that.

Instead of trying to convince him, Hunk bowed to his king for the final time. “I will do ask you ask, your Majesty.”

* * *

The next time Hunk opened his eyes he was bombarded by a slurry of emotions running thick in the air. He stumbled, catching himself on the edges of his cryo-pod and using it to stabilize himself and get a grip on his embattled emotional shields. It took him a moment before he felt well enough to address the situation in front of him and another few minutes after that to convince Allura and Coran that they should move to a more comfortable room to talk to their guests.

The division between both groups was clear.

Allura and Coran sat side-by-side facing their guests, arms crossed and expressions stern.

Shirotak, the apparent leader of the group of Galra who made it onto the Castle of Lions, was as tall as any warrior that Hunk had met before. Four black horns stood out starkly against his white hair and they curved back over his head, reminding Hunk in some ways of the valgo's he had heard about in his youth.

His exact opposite was the young female Galra named Katla, who Hunk could only think to describe as “fluffy”. From her fanned ears to the tuft at the tip of her tail, Hunk would be hard-pressed to think of another characteristic that stood out as much.

His gaze slid to the Galra sitting next to her. He looked close in age to Katla and was clearly of no relation to her. Keith's skin was smooth, broken only by a pair of darker stripes on his forearms, as well as the ones rising from the underside of his jaw. His hair was pitch black – a rarity among Galra, who tended towards a simple white or the blues and violets of their skin (or fur).

And finally, there was Lance, whose appearance was so plain compared to the others that it actually made him stand out more. His hair was short and dark, leaning towards a shade more blue than violet, and his ears came to gentle points like the way Altean ears did. He had no distinguishing marks and his eyes were missing the typical yellow sclera of the Galra, but Hunk figured he was only half-Galra at the most and it wasn't a big deal.

There was a tiny part of Hunk that wished at least _one_ of them wasn't Galra, but he pushed that aside to fulfill his promise to King Alfor.

The Red Lion had brought them to the castle, which meant they could be trusted. All Hunk had to do was convince Allura and Coran of that. He withheld a sigh as he looked at his fellow Alteans, who were eyeing the newcomers with clear distrust.

It wasn't going to be an easy task.

Hunk cleared his throat and looked at Shirotak, who he suspected was both the oldest and the leader of the group. “Before we were put into those pods, King Alfor hid all five of the Lions so Zarkon couldn't get his hands on them, so how did you do it?”

“Keith was the one who found her,” Shirotak said, speaking with the slowness of someone who was carefully choosing their words. “We heard rumors that the Empire was looking for a superweapon on Venadh, but when Keith went there, he found the Red Lion instead.”

“And then you took her,” Allura said scathingly.

“She _called_ to him,” Shirotak corrected. “How did you describe it, Keith? Like being pulled towards something but not knowing why?”

Keith nodded.

“You're lying. You have to be. The Red Lion would never choose someone like you!”

The flash of anger from Allura beat heavily against Hunk's shoddy shields and before he knew it, he was on his feet and staring her down, arms crossed over his chest as a rage that wasn't his own churned hotly in his chest. “Princess, that's _enough_. I know it's hard to accept, but they _are_ the new Paladins and we're going to have to accept that sooner or later if we want to stand any chance!”

The flames of anger burnt out quickly and Hunk bowed under the shocked gazes of Allura and Coran, who were both stunned speechless by his outburst.

“I'm sorry,” he said in a softer tone. “Princess, I... I know it's a lot to take in, but I think we can trust them. King Alfor told me that the Lions would return when they found new Paladins and when that happened, we would wake up from our sleep.”

After a few ticks, Coran spoke up. “I think it would be best if we took some time to ourselves to think this over. Hunk, would you show our... guests to appropriate rooms where they can stay? Meet us on the bridge once you're finished.”

Hunk nodded and stood back as his fellow Alteans stood and left the room without a backward glance. He sighed in relief as the intense atmosphere left with them, giving him a moment to patch up his shields before turning to face their guests. (And Hunk was definitely going to take a few doboshes to himself before going to the bridge – suddenly waking after 10,000 years of sleep was evidently Very Bad for his empathic abilities and he needed to regain control if he wanted to stand a chance of convincing Allura and Coran to give the Galra a chance.)

“Sorry about that,” he said, offering them a small smile. “Come on, I'll show you where you can stay.”

“Let me guess: in a special cell in the dungeon?” Katla asked.

While Hunk was fairly sure that was what Coran had in mind, he was absolutely not going to imprison them. “I figured you'd be more comfortable if you each had a room of your own. You'll be on the same hall as I am, so if you need anything, I'll be right there.”

“I'm surprised you trust us to be so close,” Keith said.

Shirotak gave a nearly inaudible sigh at their behavior and Hunk had to fight the impulse to make a joke. While it would make him feel better, he wasn't so sure that trying to joke with them would go over so well.

Honesty would be a better choice.

“You haven't given me a reason not to trust you and you deserve to be comfortable while you're here. Though, uh, I don't recommend leaving your rooms for a while. Let me talk to Coran and the Princess and then I'll come down and give you guys a tour,” Hunk said.

“Sounds good to me,” Shirotak said as he stood up. “I don't suppose the kitchen will be part of that tour? We missed dinner when the Lion brought us here.”

“I'll make it our first stop,” Hunk promised.

* * *

The rooms were a little small, but they offered security in the form of password-enabled doors and each one came with its own bathroom, though Hunk did mention a communal bathhouse at the end of the hall. Each room was furnished with a bed, a side table, and a desk with a chair.

Hunk pointed out his room, which was the first door on the left at the start of the hall, and then left them to pick their own.

Shiro took the room directly across from Hunk, Pidge and Keith took the next two (though Shiro suspected they would end up bunking together more often than not), and Lance picked one on the right, which was next to Keith's room. They took a few doboshes to settle in and wash up before meeting up at Shiro's room for a group discussion.

“Everyone feeling alright?” he asked.

“No,” Keith said bluntly. “They obviously don't want us here. I say we get back to the Red Lion and go home.”

“That might not be an option. The Red Lion was on lockdown for months back at the base and it sounds like the only reason she lifted her barrier was to get all of us together. If I heard correctly, she's not the only Lion and if we've been 'chosen' like Hunk suggested, I doubt she'd let us fly anywhere. Katla, thoughts?” Shiro asked.

Katla frowned. “I think we need to find out more before we do anything rash. And before that, we need a way to communicate with Kolivan and let everyone know we're alright. If I can find the right parts, I'll be able to build a communication device and send out a coded message, but that will have to wait until after Hunk gives us that tour. Maybe I'll see something along the way.”

Shiro nodded in agreement and then looked to Lance, who had been unusually quiet since their arrival. He gently nudged the Altean and asked: “How are you feeling?”

“How do you _think_ I feel?” Lance asked waspishly. “We're sitting in the castle of the ones who _abandoned_ my people and left us all to die and you're telling me you want to stay and learn more? I'm with Keith on this one. They don't want us here, so we should leave and take the Lion with us.”

That left Shiro with the final say. “We'll take one quintant to figure out what our best plan is. In the meantime, we get a message back to Kolivan and the others. That will be your task, Katla. Keith, I want you to try and get through to the Red Lion. Maybe she'll listen to you if you explain the situation. Lance...” he trailed off at the surly expression on the younger man's face. “You'll be with me. If we can make peace with Princess Allura and the other two, then that will be best. I need you to tell me everything you know about them.”

“You already heard everything you need to know. They went to sleep for 10,000 years and left us to burn. That's it.”

“I'm sure there's more to it than that,” Shiro said. There was more he wanted to say, but Lance abruptly stood up and left for his own room, signaling the end of that particular conversation.

“Should we go after him?” Katla asked, her brow furrowed in worry.

Shiro shook his head. “Let him take some time for himself. In the meantime, I want the two of you to try and get along with Hunk. He's willing to give us a chance, so we'll do the same for him.”

The pair grumbled a bit but agreed.

Shiro shooed them off to relax while they were waiting for Hunk to return and give them a tour and once they were gone, he took the opportunity to examine his new room more closely. When he found nothing out of the ordinary, he took his own advice and laid down to rest for a while. He was too keyed up to nap, but relaxing in a meditative state was perfectly within his capabilities, so he did that until he heard a knock at his door.

Hunk was on the other side, ready to give them the tour he promised.

After rounding up Katla and Keith (and checking on Lance to see if he wanted to join), the four set off for the kitchen, where Hunk introduced them to food goo, which was a dubious green color that Hunk insisted was perfectly safe and nutritious. Shiro politely tasted some of it and while it wasn't bad, it was so bland that he couldn't bring himself to eat more than a bite.

“It's the only thing that lasts in stasis,” Hunk said apologetically. “I'll send out some scavenger drones later to see what kinds of foods this planet has that we can eat.”

Hunk was careful not to show them any sensitive areas on his tour – they stuck mostly to the floor their rooms were on, which also housed the kitchen and a few other rooms that were used for games or just to relax. He did take them down a few floors to the pool, which was suspended up near the ceiling and not something any of them were interested in using.

He talked all the while; it was a sort of nervous chatter meant to fill the silence permeating the castle. Shiro was the one who responded most often, though Katla couldn't keep her curiosity at bay and had a few questions of her own.

By the time the tour was over, Shiro felt that they had been sufficiently successful at gaining an ally in Hunk. He hoped it would be enough.

Several hours later, as the castle began its cycle into nighttime and all of the lights dimmed to represent that, Keith, Katla, and Lance gathered in Shiro's room to go over their plan for the night.

With Shiro's help, Keith would be sneaking out through the front of the castle to try and talk to the Red Lion. They hoped she would listen and be ready in case they needed to make a hasty escape back to headquarters.

Meanwhile, Katla and Lance were going to find an equipment room so Katla could build something for them to get a message back to Kolivan. Lance was going along to serve as a lookout.

Before they split up, Keith pulled Katla aside.

“Be careful,” he cautioned, his eyes soft as he looked down at her. “Do you have your blade?”

Katla nodded and patted the sheath on her right hip. She smiled at him and then reached up with one hand to caress his cheek. “I'm going to be fine. We're just going down the hall to find that security panel I spotted earlier. I'll hack into it and be back here before you know it. I'm more worried about you and Shiro running into trouble on your way out.”

“We'll be careful,” Keith promised, nuzzling the palm of her hand before pressing a single kiss to it.

Across the room, Lance gaped at the pair of them. “Wha-? Since when is this happening?”

Shiro chuckled at his confusion. “They've been waiting for Katla to finish her training before starting their courtship. It's quite an honor to be able to witness the start of it.”

Lance was silent for a moment as he watched them. When he spoke again, it was to change the subject completely. “Do you trust them? The Alteans, I mean.”

“Trust needs to be earned and that takes more time than a few vargas,” Shiro replied. “But if you're asking me what kind of threat I think they pose to us, I'd say it's low. They're angry. They have every right to be. The most we need to worry about is that they'll try and lock us away since they can't risk us leaving and telling anyone about their location, though they'll find that more difficult than they may think.”

“Because you're all trained to fight,” Lance said, nodding his head.

Shiro smiled. “Because _Hunk_ wants to trust us. I don't think he'd stand idly by and just let it happen. But yes, also because we have spent most of our lives learning to fight.”

Lance frowned at the mention of Hunk, but didn't argue.

Shiro patted Lance on the shoulder and then stepped forward. “Keith, are you ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Keith responded, taking a moment to press his forehead to Katla's before the two of them reluctantly separated.

And with that, they went off to complete their missions, both teams hoping for success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a rocky start for Team Voltron, but they'll figure things out.
> 
> And because I don't really count it as a spoiler (and I will go into more detail later), I'll go ahead and explain the whole deal with Hunk's abilities.  
> Basically, I wanted to explore Altean "magic" more than what we were given in canon, and settled on 4 Aspects that are possible for them to have. The most common is Body, which covers shapeshifting and super-strength. Next is Mind - those with this aspect are very knowledge driven and have near photographic memories. Spirit is rare and is the visible form of magic that only a few Alteans can wield; it's the direct manipulation of quintessence and the basis to their alchemy. And finally is Heart, which is the most rare, and is essentially a form of intense empathy.


	3. Communication

The dim lighting of the castle's nighttime cycle made everything feel far more ominous than it needed to be, with the way it cast long shadows across the floor and highlighted any curvature in the architecture around them. Katla stayed close to the wall as she and Lance snuck towards the security panel she spotted during their tour. With luck, she would be able to hack into it without setting off any alarms.

Neither of them dared speak for fear of getting caught.

Katla gestured for Lance to stop as they reached the end of the hall. She waited a moment and then, with more caution than necessary, peered around the bend. When she saw that the coast was clear, she nodded to him and waved him forward so they could continue towards their task, which was all the way down at the end of the hall on their left.

“This is it,” Katla whispered to him. She held up her right arm and pressed on a slightly raised plate on the underside of her bracer. It clicked and released a tiny cable, which she pulled out and, after taking a deep breath, connected it to the control panel on the wall. The screen flickered in and out for a moment and then turned from blue to a pale violet, signaling that she was successfully wired into the system.

Both of them let go of the breath they were holding.

“Is that it?” Lance asked.

“Almost,” Katla responded, turning her wrist so her hand faced palm down. She double-tapped the top of her bracer, which activated a small, holographic display. “Keep an eye out, would you? Hopefully, this thing will give me a map to an engineering room or something. It's bound to have parts I can use.”

Lance nodded sharply and stood up straight. Though he didn't move away from the wall, he listened as hard as he could for any sound that wasn't the tiny beeps from Katla scouring the system for anything useful.

After a few tense doboshes, Katla cried out in triumph, and although she managed to do it quietly, it still made Lance visibly jump.

“Sorry,” she apologized as she disconnected from the control panel. “There's a spare parts room two halls over and I disconnected the security cameras and put them on loop. It'll last us one varga, so we'll have to be quick.”

“Can you build your-” (Lance vaguely waved his hand) “- _ whatever-it-is  _ in that short amount of time?”

“Who do you think you're talking to? Of course I can,” Katla said confidently.

Lance snorted in amusement. “Lead on, team captain. I'd like to get some beauty rest at some point tonight and the sooner you do your thing, the sooner I can curl up in bed.”

Katla grinned at him and then set off down the hallway at a much faster pace, more at ease with the knowledge that there was no one around to catch them. According to the system, there was one person three floors above them and there were two other people up in the topmost spire of the castle. (And of course, she checked in to find Shiro and Keith, who were steadily making their way to the front door when she spotted their dots. Or at least, she assumed it was them.)

When they got to the correct door, Katla didn't even have to hack into it, it simply slid open with a simple press to the keypad.

“You know, I'd say I should talk to them about upping their security around here but it's really benefiting me right now, so I won't,” Katla said in a light-hearted tone. “Oh, look at this!”

Lance looked around, but all he saw were heaps of junk and scrap metal. “Uh, yeah, it's really something. Very... metal-y.”

Katla wasn't paying him any attention as she eagerly delved into the piles and began pulling things out, cooing and humming over what she could use and what may be useful for future things. As Lance watched, the pile in front of her grew, and while he didn't see how any of it was meant to fit together, Katla was clearly delighted by her mess of wires and metal pieces, so he didn't say anything until she tried to scoop it all up and carry it to one of the mostly empty tables.

“Here, let me help,” Lance said, stooping down to help pick up some of the stray pieces.

Together the pair got all of the parts over to a desk, where Katla began to assemble them and occasionally looked up to ask Lance to fetch some kind of tool or computer chip or another cable or wire.

Lance did his best to help while also listening for anyone's approach, but by the time Katla had her little machine buzzing to life, he'd forgotten the whole reason he was there. And because both of them were so focused on the communication device, neither noticed there was someone else in the room with them until that person loudly cleared their throat to get their attention.

Lance gasped and back up into the desk so hard that he winced.

Katla's hand flew to her side and grasped the hilt of her dagger as she turned to face the potential threat. She froze when she saw Hunk standing there with his hands held up in front of him to show he didn't mean any harm.

For a moment, there was only silence.

“What do  _ you  _ want?” Lance asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You guys set off a sensor when you left your rooms, so I came to make sure everything is alright,” Hunk said, slowly lowering his hands back to his sides.

“You bugged our rooms?” Pidge asked incredulously.

“Well, yeah. I mean, wouldn't you if you were in my shoes?” Hunk asked in response. “What are you two doing in here anyway?”

Lance watched as Katla tried to move over in front of her device before Hunk could get a better look at it. He copied her and closed in as well, though he could tell from the expression on Hunk's face that he'd already seen that they were building something. Maybe if they were lucky, he wouldn't be able to figure out what it was?

A few ticks passed and then Hunk sighed. “I know we don't have any reason to trust each other, but can we try and get along? At least until we figure all of this out with the Red Lion.”

Katla puffed herself up in anger, her tail lashing as she very slowly stepped aside. “We need to send a message back to our families and let them know we're alright.”

Hunk took a single step closer and both of them tensed up, but that was as far as he went. “You could have just asked. Though, uh, I guess the real issue would be convincing Allura and Coran.” He paused for a moment to look at the machine. “Wait, is that a sub-frequency radio? Are you sure you don't want to use something a little faster? I could try and sneak you up on the bridge once they leave and you could send a message that way.”

Katla shook her head. “This is more reliable. And since no one uses it anymore, no one is _looking_ or broadcasts through it anymore. Well, except for Keith's dad and my family.”

There was something about Hunk that made Lance feel more at ease, despite his determination to dislike all three Alteans found in the castle. He figured Katla must have been feeling the same way. She wouldn't reveal so much if she wasn't.

“And you built it using pieces you found around here?” Hunk asked. “What are you using to power it?”

Katla hesitated to respond, but after another few ticks of silence and Hunk patiently waiting for her to decide whether or not to tell him, she finally did. “I was going to make a double coil generator so it keeps recycling the energy and gathers displaced electrical currents from the air, but it needs a jump start so I don't have to wait for that to build up. I figured something around here would have enough power to do that, but...”

“Maybe I can find something,” Hunk suggested.

Lance stayed close to Katla as the Altean began to walk around, opening drawers in search of what they needed. He didn't know why Hunk was so willing to help them. Was it a trap? A way of luring them into a false sense of security, prying their secrets from them, and then finding a way to betray them?

His panicked thoughts didn't have time to gain any momentum or spiral off into a more ridiculous scenario. A wave of calm washed over him, soothing his fraying nerves and forcing him to relax. And all at once, Lance realized  _ why  _ he felt so at ease with Hunk.

It took everything in his power not to blurt it out right then and there.

Later. He would tell Katla and the others later. If he brought it up right at that moment, then he would have to explain how he knew so much about Altean secrets and that was a wormhole he had no plans on opening up.

Hunk made a triumphant exclamation as he lifted a tray of shiny rocks from one of the drawers and carried it over to them. “These are power crystals,” he explained, picking up one shaped like an obelisk with a broken base and passing it to Lance. “We'll have to dig through and find one that still has some power left.”

Lance rolled the opaque white gem around his palm, watching with slight alarm as a faint glow began to build up in the center. He quickly passed it off to Katla before anyone could notice what was happening.

“How do you know which ones have power?” Katla asked, curiously eyeing the box before looking at the stone she was just handed. “Because it looks like the one you gave us might work.”

Hunk shook his head. “They'll glow if they have any power left. That one was... oh!” his voice stuttered in surprise as he took a second look. “You're right! That one should work. That's odd...”

Katla didn't question their good fortune and busied herself with installing the crystal in the communication device, practically bouncing in delight as it immediately began to work.

Lance's heart was pounding in his chest. He could feel Hunk's eyes on him.  _ 'Please don't figure it out,' _ Lance prayed, turning his back towards the Altean and pretending to focus solely on the coils within Katla's device which were steadily directing the energy through the wires and looping back around into itself, glowing brighter with each pass.

If Hunk learned anything from the exchange, he didn't say anything and instead went to put the tray away before returning to watch Katla begin to input her message. It became apparent after a moment that he, like Lance, couldn't make heads or tails of the series of numbers Katla was typing out.

“A coded message?” he guessed.

“My brother and I made our own secret code when we were kids, so we could write to each other without anyone else knowing what we were saying,” Katla explained. “Kol – Keith's dad will pick up on the broadcast, but only Matt will be able to translate.”

“That seems a little excessive.”

Katla gave a humorless laugh. “Maybe you hadn't picked up on this, but we're not exactly friends of the Empire. All of that caution is how we stay alive. We haven't had the  _ luxury _ of hiding away and sleeping for all these years.”

Hunk flinched, but when he spoke again it was without anger in his voice. “You're right. We hid the Lions and ourselves because we were afraid of what would happen if Zarkon found us. I didn't like it. Allura argued that we should keep fighting. But we listened to our King because he thought it was the right choice. Maybe it was or maybe it wasn't, but we're here now and ready to stand up and fight. The Red Lion brought the four of you here for a reason and I know it's because you've been chosen as the new paladins. Well, four of them. Because there should be five of you.”

“Wait, there are  _ five _ Lions?” Katla asked.

Hunk looked taken aback by the question. “Yeah. You didn't know?”

“How would we?” Katla asked in response. She took another moment to read over her message and then send it before picking up the device. “So, where are these other four Lions? Are they as well hidden as Red?”

“They should be. We know that the Black Lion is safe since it's here in the castle, but we won't know about the others until we go looking. Allura should be able to tell us where they are,” Hunk said.

“Which means we'll never find them,” Lance stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I wouldn't say that. The princess will come around, she just needs a little time,” Hunk said defensively. “I should get you back to your room. It definitely won't help things if she or Coran learn that you're out here sending messages and that I helped you.”

Neither Katla nor Lance protested as Hunk gestured for them to follow him out of the room and back through the halls. None of them spoke; Lance didn't even blurt out the storm of questions left to thunder around in his mind.

When they got back to their rooms, Katla didn't give Lance a chance to go into the room he'd been given and instead grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into Shiro's without giving him a chance to protest. While she looked around for the best place to hide her device, just in case they needed it again, Lance sat down on the edge of the bed and mulled over everything he'd learned, slotting it into place with what he'd known before.

Most of it boiled down to one fact: as much as he didn't want to like him, Hunk was someone they could trust.

It wasn't just the fact that he helped them send their message.

It wasn't even that he kept his patience even when Katla verbally attacked him.

It had everything to do with his Aspect.

They didn't have a lot of records from the time when Altea still hung whole in the sky. All that they knew of their heritage was what had been verbally passed down from parent to child and there were scarce few books and items that remained. Their knowledge of Altean Aspects – the special abilities that their quintessence granted them – was a limited one born of experience.

Body.

Mind.

Spirit.

Heart.

Lance had been born graced with the power to change his form at will. He began far earlier than most babies, changing the color of his skin for his own amusement, as well as the amusement of the other children he grew up with. By the time he was a tween, he could hold color and form for days if he needed to, even through sleep.

His mother said he was extraordinarily blessed.

Lance didn't always see it that way. Not when there was Leifsina, whose sharp mind was leagues above everyone else. Or Rykin, who was gifted with tremendous strength and just enough spirit to power the lamps around their village when needed. And then there was Curtis, who wore his Aspect of Heart like a shield, able to soothe those in need of it and calm tempers when they began to flare.

And all Lance could do was shift his appearance. That was nothing special. Most Alteans carried that ability.

Hunk was one of those special Alteans – like Curtis – who was born with the rarest ability of all. There were no others in their village who boasted the Aspect of Heart and even their records of it were scarce; there was perhaps one born with that Aspect every one-hundred decaphoebs. Still, if there was one thing they knew for certain it was that those with Heart were incapable of lying. There was always some kind of tell when they tried and no amount of practice or emotional control was enough to fix that.  


Lance still didn't like him.

But if he had to pick one of the three who he trusted, it would be Hunk.

Shiro and Keith returned with little fanfare and news that the Red Lion hadn't responded to any of Keith's pleading, which meant they were officially stuck on Arus until she changed her mind. After hearing that, Lance was reluctant to tell them about their run-in with Hunk, but Katla had no such fears about telling them all about it.

At least they had gotten a message sent. It was only a question of Kolivan recognizing it as coming from them and getting Matt to translate.

“We should get some rest,” Shiro said once they were all caught up. “The three of you are welcome to stay here for the night. The bed's a little small, but I think we could manage.”

Katla perked up. “Do you mean it?”

“I wouldn't have offered if I didn't,” Shiro responded, sounding amused.

Lance thought for sure Keith would scoff and say he was going to sleep in his own room, but to his amazement, Keith yawned and claimed the middle before climbing over the bed to settle in his chosen spot. Katla grinned as she joined him, rolling over him to settle between Keith and the wall.

“Lance?” Shiro questioned. “Do you want to stay too?”

Lance agreed with only a little embarrassment.

* * *

Allura sat in front of her vanity, slowly running a brush through her hair as she reflected on the events of the evening before. After a night of proper sleep, she was ashamed by the way she reacted to their guests and the obstinacy she displayed in refusing to believe that the Red Lion had accepted one of them as her paladin.

She set her brush down with deliberate delicacy and closed her eyes.

Her father's Lion had chosen a Galra and it  _ hurt _ as surely as if she were in physical pain. And while she couldn't fully blame that pain for her actions, it certainly added to the helpless rage that she felt from the very moment she awoke in the cryo-pod, the betrayal of the people she once called allies still a freshly bleeding wound.

Regardless of her reasons, she had acted disgracefully and her guests deserved an apology.

Allura opened her eyes and stared at her reflection. “I will apologize, but this doesn't mean I trust them.”

There was a quiet scratching sound followed by several squeaks that seemed to overlap one another and Allura blinked in surprise as she watched four mice of different sizes climb up onto her vanity and begin to tumble around. There was a tickling in the back of her mind as though four voices were trying to speak and gain her attention, though it wasn't in words but feeling and a quick flash of images.

“Can you... understand me?” Allura murmured, tilting her head to the side as she regarded the mice.

There were more excited squeaks and a starburst of delight.

As she learned that a connection between them existed thanks to their 10,000 years spent in the same cryo-pod, Allura began to consider how she could use it to her benefit. They were small and inconspicuous. No one would even  _ think  _ that she could understand what they were saying.

They would be the perfect little spies.

“Perhaps you'd like to help me with something,” Allura said with a growing smile. “And in return, I'll find whatever food you like to eat.”


	4. History Revealed

Allura was in good spirits as she made her way to the dining hall, where Coran was already seated and enjoying a heaping plate of food goo. She grimaced at the thought of eating more of it. Food goo was truly an acquired taste and she hoped Hunk was making plans to look into what was available on the planet.

Before she could shuffle off into the royal kitchen for her own plate, Hunk came bustling through the door with a broad grin on his face and a tray carefully balanced in each hand. One of the kitchen droids – a little one nicknamed 'Nikbot' for all of the times Hunk used it to transport picnic supplies – scooted along behind him, beeping in a happy tone as it carried a tray of drinks.

“I made breakfast!” Hunk announced, depositing one tray laden with all kinds of fruits and berries into the center of the table. “Or, well, I _found_ breakfast.”

Nikbot beeped loudly and bumped into his legs.

“Nikbot and I found breakfast,” Hunk amended. “This planet has so much food! We'll be set for _phoebs_ with all of the stuff we found, even with seven of us to feed.”

Allura cleared her throat and held out her hand, allowing her four new friends to scurry down from her shoulder onto the table. “Actually, there are eleven of us. Apparently they shared a pod with me for all of this time! You're looking at the last four genuine Altean mice!”

“Awww,” Hunk cooed.

Coran leaned forward in interest. “Well, hello!”

Allura happily introduced them, starting with the large yellow one (Platt), then the smallest blue one (Chulatt), followed by the skinny greenish-one (Plachu), and finally the pale pink one (Chuchule). She made no mention of her ability to communicate with them – Hunk certainly wouldn't approve of her spying methods, no matter that her intentions were to ensure their safety.

As the mice helped themselves to the array of fruits before them, Allura gladly accepted a steaming cup from Nikbot's tray and took a long, slow sip of the hot beverage. She hummed in pleasure and then surveyed the food, giggling as she witnessed Platt open his mouth wide and fit a whole berry into it. He turned to look at her, his cheeks bulging, and Allura giggled even harder.

“It's good to see you in such high spirits, princess,” Coran remarked as he accepted one of the cold beverages from Nikbot.

“It is going to be a good day, Coran,” Allura said in response. “I thought we could go over our itinerary while we eat. There's a great deal that needs to be done around here and planning is the best way to ensure the important details are accomplished.”

Hunk shifted a little. “I was going to take more food down to the others. I don't think they're fans of the food goo.”

Allura's smile was strained. “Then I shall be brief.” She gently set down her cup and took a deep breath, reminding herself that she needed to give them a chance to prove themselves and that getting angry over it wasn't good for her health. “Our automated systems have kept things in good working order for all of this time, but just in case, I sent out the repair bots last night to see if there's anything that needs our attention. We should have that report once we return to the bridge.

“As long as there isn't anything we need to immediately address, there are tasks that each of us need to complete. Coran, I would like you to check on the engine room. You have the most knowledge and experience in that area and I trust that you'll have it in working order in no time. Hunk, I see you've already begun your work in the kitchens. Once you're certain that the kitchen bots have everything under control, you'll be in charge of the care for our guests. Should Coran need your help in the engine room, he'll call for you.”

She went on to explain that she would be checking in on the crystal chamber, which housed the various power crystals that kept the Castle running. Using her Aspect of Spirit, she would be able to recharge any of the crystals that were running low on energy. It would take her some time to go over all of them, but she predicted to be finished by midday.

After lunch, she would take on the difficult task of speaking with their guests.

Or perhaps she'd only talk to one of them.

Yes, one at a time would be best.

* * *

“They don't really think we'll be content to sit in our rooms all day, do they?” Katla complained as she laid on Shiro's bed and stared at the ceiling.

Next to her, Lance gave a half-hearted shrug. “Maybe it's a test?”

Katla snorted. “If it is, then it's a stupid one.” She sat up suddenly and looked at Shiro and Keith, who were going through a series of warm-up stretches in lieu of their usual morning routine. “If you give me a few doboshes to look over the sensors on our doors, I bet I could disable it without anyone catching on.”

“I think we can offer more patience than that,” Shiro spoke up. He stood up straight and raised his arms above his head as high as he could before relaxing and letting them fall back to his sides. “I don't like feeling stuck either, but we can't blame them for wanting to be cautious. Wouldn't you be, if the situation was reversed?”

“I guess...” Katla reluctantly grumbled and then flopped back down, jostling Lance.

Shiro was right, but that didn't mean she wanted to hear it.

She supposed she was meant to also feel grateful that they were given nice rooms instead of being put into prison cells where their freedom would truly be stripped away. And she was! But that didn't stop the anxiety from kicking in the longer they sat around.

“If we don't see Hunk during lunch then we'll do some exploring on our own,” Shiro said.

Keith looked at him in surprise. “What if we get caught?”

“Well, I've always been good at talking the two of you out of trouble,” Shiro joked with a fond smile.

His comment eased the tension in the room and even Lance cracked a smile – the first Katla had seen from him since their arrival at the castle. It was a smile that immediately fell when they heard a knock at the door.

None of them were surprised to find Hunk standing on the other side.

“I thought you guys might want to get out and see more of the castle,” he said casually.

Katla sat up in an instant, her ears fanned out in excitement. “Can we, Shiro?”

“I suspect I'll have a mutiny on my hands if I say no,” Shiro remarked. “Keith, Lance, what do you two say?”

Lance heaved a sigh but muttered an agreement, while Keith answered by approaching the bed and helping Katla to her feet, which earned him a smile and a kiss on the cheek.

“Everything alright?” she asked quietly.

Keith nodded and turned his head so no one else could see his lips moving as he whispered: “I'll tell you later.”

With everyone in agreement, Hunk began the tour by leading them back to the kitchen and then onto a new branch in the hallway, at the end of which was an elevator. They rode it up three floors and when the doors opened they found themselves in an odd room.

Katla peered around Keith for a better look at the massive console lining the opposite wall, her eyes wide as she took in the startling amount of buttons and switches and the various touch-screens that covered it. Above the module were wide windows that stretched all the way up to the ceiling, through which an even larger and very empty room could be seen. If Katla had to guess, the lower room took up nearly an entire floor on its own.

Shiro stepped forward, his mouth slightly ajar. “Hunk, this is... Are you sure we're allowed to be here?”

“I don't see the harm in it,” Hunk said with a shrug. He waved them in and then walked right up to the console, which lit with a soft glow as he drew closer. “This is the control room for our holo-deck, which you can see down there. You can use it make your own training exercise or use one of the pre-programmed ones, like the electrified invisible maze.”

“But if it's invisible, how do you keep from getting shocked?” Katla asked.

“Oh, well, it's meant to be a teamwork-building thing. One person is up here with a map and can give directions. If you do it well enough, there's no electrocution,” Hunk explained. “Here, let me show you how it works.”

Katla barely refrained from squealing as she pushed past Shiro and Keith so she could get an up close and personal look at how everything worked.

Hunk quickly proved himself a fantastically patient teacher and he answered all of the questions she had, as well as anything Shiro or Keith asked. He walked her through the steps to creating her own program, which turned out to be relatively easy – so easy that she probably could have figured it out half-asleep and with no prior knowledge of what any button did – and then pulled up a full list of every pre-programmed exercise they had. Everything was meticulously labeled and divided into different categories and each program had different levels of difficulty that were clearly noted.

While Shiro and Keith actively participated in the lesson, Lance hung back away from the group, not saying a word but still listening to everything that was being said.

“That's about it,” Hunk told her. “Want to try it out?”

“Yes!” Katla didn't know it was possible for her voice to go that high, but she was too excited to get her hands on Altean tech to really be embarrassed by that fact. (For something so ancient, it was the _nicest_ piece of technology she had ever laid eyes on.)

“Something simple to start out with,” Shiro advised.

Katla barely took notice of what he was saying as she scrolled through the options, oohing and aahing over the possibilities. “Uh huh.”

“Katla, I'm serious.”

“Okay, okay. Something simple,” she promised with a sigh, resisting the urge to call him a killjoy.

Hunk said something about a track, didn't he? One they could put hurdles on for an extra challenge? Katla's fingers hovered over the selection, wondering if it wasn't _too_ simple. The option of an obstacle course was _so_ much more tempting...

Katla selected the track and, with the exception of Lance, they all crowded around the window to watch as the floor of the holo-deck began to warp, twisting parts of itself up into tall squares and rising slightly in the center of the room so there was a clear indentation where they were meant to run.

“So, how do we get down there?” Shiro asked Hunk.

The answer turned out to be pretty simple: there was a second door to the right of the elevator they rode up on and it opened to a moving staircase they could ride down to the holo-deck. Once there, Hunk showed them a secondary control panel.

“You won't be able to change to a different program from here, but you _can_ change the difficulty or move things around. It also has voice recognition that you can use when one of the combat programs are active. It's a built-in safety feature,” Hunk explained.

“This is all _so cool_ ,” Katla breathed, looking around the room with a delighted spark in her amber eyes. She grinned and mischievously tapped Keith on the shoulder before sprinting away. “Catch me if you can!”

Keith's grin was a little more feral as he tore off after her.

Katla laughed as she vaulted over the first hurdle. “Shiro, Lance, come on!”

It took a moment for Shiro to talk Lance into running with them, but he eventually agreed and it wasn't long before the four of them were embroiled in a fierce game of tag while Hunk sat back and watched, a smile on his face.

* * *

Shiro was a little wary as he entered the dining room where he was meeting Allura for lunch. After what happened the last time he tried to talk to her, he was understandably uncomfortable about being alone with her, even with Hunk's assurance that she _wanted_ him there.

He hesitated in the doorway when he saw her already seated at the head of the table.

“Shirotak, thank you for joining me,” she said, giving him a strained smile. “Please sit. Our meal will be out shortly.”

Shiro didn't take his eyes off of her as he crossed the room to his seat. “Is it just the two of us, highness?”

“Yes. Coran has a few things he's looking over on the Bridge and will be taking his meal there. I believe Hunk is eating with your friends,” Allura said. “I thought this would be a good opportunity for the two of us to talk and... and I wanted to apologize for my behavior.”

It was the sincerity in her voice that put Shiro more at ease. “Thank you. I can't imagine that it was easy to wake and find yourself surrounded by strangers. Is there anything we can do to help you feel more comfortable?”

“I think getting to talk will help immensely,” Allura responded. “But first, we should eat.”

As if on cue, a pair of kitchen droids rolled into the room and served each of them a plate of food. Shiro was glad that there wasn't a single spoonful of food goo in sight. (But then again, Hunk had told them there was plenty of fresh food to be found on the planet, so was it really such a surprise?)

Shiro waited until Allura took her first bite and then dug into his.

Most of their meal was spent in silence, but Shiro didn't mind the time to think over all of the things he wanted to say to her, as well as to determine what he was _allowed_ to say. Obviously, he'd have to reveal a few things. There was only so long they could keep the Blade of Marmora a secret before someone started to get suspicious, though he was pretty sure he could get away with only hinting towards a secret organization for the moment.

By the time they finished eating, Shiro had most of a plan. For the rest, he'd just have to wing it.

“I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you to join me,” Allura said as the droids cleared away their empty plates. “The truth is, I don't know what to think about this whole situation. I know there's a reason why the Red Lion brought you here, but I don't understand why it's _specifically_ the four of you. The original paladins all knew each other beforehand, so maybe that's part of the prerequisite? But that doesn't explain why there are only four of you and not five...” She trailed off, her gaze distant.

Shiro wondered how much of that she really meant to say. After a few ticks had passed and she didn't continue speaking, he said “I don't have an answer for that.”

Allura blinked and sat up a little straighter as she refocused on the conversation. “Then perhaps a question that you will be able to answer: do you know how the war began?”

“Growing up, I was taught that the Altean king declared war upon the Galra when he ordered the destruction of Daibazaal and that the retaliation of Zarkon and his forces was justified. I later learned that it was all a lie, but we don't know the full truth of things either,” Shiro paused, watching as Allura's expression softened from outright rage to simple indignation.

“My father was a general in Zarkon's army. My mother was convinced of the might and righteousness of the Empire, like many are, and she raised me to believe the same. It was something she believed in until they tried to take me from her.

“It's tradition for the firstborn to begin training at a young age. More than tradition, actually. It's an unspoken requirement that most follow without question. My mother hoped that because of my father's status as a general, as well as the fact that I was the only cub she was able to have, they would allow me to stay with her instead. The army disagreed. My mother ran and took me with her. She didn't get far.”

Shiro hadn't intended on divulging his past to her, but judging from the horrified expression on Allura's face, it was the right way to go. At least she was listening.

“That was the day my faith in the Empire was broken. From that moment on, I began to see them as they truly were and I did everything in my power to become too troublesome to keep around. I knew that one day I would be too old to stay in training and they would send me out whether they thought I was ready or not. When that day came, I would be able to sneak away and they would be too thankful that I was gone to go looking for me. But then came a day when I did something exceptionally... foolish.

“I saved the life of a commanding officer. I can't even say why I did it. In-fighting is common in the Empire and it's not unusual for them to be to the death, but when I saw someone try to sneak up behind her I just... moved. It's how I earned this,” Shiro tapped the bridge of his nose, where his scar cut across. “In return, Ranzaria saved me from my destructive spiral, and eventually, she introduced me to a group dedicated to ending Zarkon's reign of fear and subjugation. I've been with them ever since.”

“Shirotak, I... I'm so sorry,” Allura murmured.

“It was a long time ago, highness, and I would not be the person I am today had I not gone through those experiences,” Shiro said. “But back to your original question, no one knows how the war truly began. The Empire has done everything in their power to obscure the truth and anyone who did know died a long time ago. At least, until the three of you woke up.”

Allura bit her lip and lowered her gaze to the table. “We were allies, once. It... it is true that my father ordered the destruction of Daibazaal, but it was not intended to be an act of war, but of prevention. Sometime before I was born, a meteor struck the surface of Daibazaal and when it was extracted, it revealed a terrible rift that penetrated deep into the core of the planet. For a while, it merely seemed to be an anomaly and was carefully studied by a few hand-picked alchemists, but as time went on they began to realize that it was destabilizing the entire planet. Left unchecked, the rift would have eventually ripped Daibazaal apart and, after that, continued to spread to encompass the entire universe. Destroying Daibazaal was the only way to seal it and prevent such a catastrophe.”

Shiro frowned. “I feel like I'm missing something. Shouldn't it have been up to Zarkon to give that order?”

“Unfortunately, it was not our first attempt at closing the rift.”

Shiro quietly listened as Allura told the whole sad story about trying to use something called “Voltron” to seal the rift and how they had only succeeded in increasing it tenfold, as well as costing the lives of two people – Emperor Zarkon and his wife, Empress Honerva. In the midst of the chaos left from Zarkon's death, King Alfor did his best to maintain control and used his role as head of the Galactic Alliance to order the evacuation and destruction of Daibazaal.

“Had the situation been reversed, it would have been well within Zarkon's rights to do the same,” Allura said, though it pained her to admit it. “Of course, everything went wrong after that. Zarkon was somehow resurrected. My father thought it had something to do with the rift, though we never knew for certain. He declared war on Altea and the rest of our alliance, destroying each of us one-by-one.”

She clenched her hands and glared at the surface of the table. “I never imagined the war would go on for so long. I- I should have fought harder to use the Lions and fight back! If I'd only tried a little harder-!” Her voice broke as a single tear fell from her eyes. She furiously wiped it away and lifted her head. “No longer. This is our second chance and I will not let it go by. I want to know where you stand, Shirotak.”

“We stand against Zarkon and his forces,” Shiro answered, meeting her eyes. “We stand with you.”

* * *

Coran knew that he promised Allura that he wouldn't pull an all-nighter to reconfigure the navigation system, but what harm would it do to check on one last little thing while the system sorted itself off. It wasn't like he'd be able to sleep until he knew why the holo-deck was using extra energy anyway. He'd just pop over to the control room for a quick look and then go to bed.

He looked around the Bridge one last time, checked the progress bar for the seventh time in as many doboshes, and then reluctantly left to begin his trek to his room.

The holo-deck was only a brief detour on his path and Coran swore that he wouldn't stay long. He entered the command room and had to take a moment to comprehend what he was seeing. It was more than just a little problem. The console was fully activated, as though someone was running a program at that very moment.

“Impossible!” Coran said, rushing forward. Allura had gone to bed _vargas_ ago and Hunk wasn't known for skipping out on sleep, or for frequenting the holo-deck. He was about to begin methodically shutting everything down when he happened to glance through the window and into the room below.

Two of the Galra were there. One was the boy with unusual black hair and the other was the girl. They were playing around on one of the climbing courses, occasionally dropping to a cushioned mat below in order to start all over.

Coran found himself relaxing the longer he watched them play. It was as they dropped to the mat at the same time and began a game of chase across the floor, breathlessly giggling, that Coran realized it was an oddly familiar sight.

A long time ago, he'd been blessed enough to witness the beginning of a truly great romance. It was one full of laughter and life and only grew more beautiful once Alfor was able to catch his beloved princess. A love that was cut tragically short.

In the room below, the boy caught up to the girl and pulled her into his arms. His balance must have gotten knocked off because they went down in a tangled heap, huge smiles upon their faces.

Coran couldn't bring himself to interrupt. Eventually, he dragged himself away from the window and off to his room. His dreams that night were full of his memories of happier days when Alfor wasn't yet king and still trying to find the right way to woo the future queen.


	5. One Step Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite the ice storms targeting my state and suffering through 30 hours without power in freezing weather, I finally finished this chapter! I hope you all enjoy it and most importantly, stay safe and warm out there through this crazy weather! (That is, if you're living in an area that's getting some crazy weather. If not, then I hope you're having a wonderful day!)
> 
> A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has left a comment on this fic so far. You have no idea how much even the smallest comment boosts my motivation to charge on ahead and keep writing.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Katla woke with a harsh gasp, nearly choking on air, her heart pounding so hard in her chest that she could hear it in her ears. She sat up and frantically looked around the unfamiliar room, her panic rising when she didn't see anyone else. She was on her feet and out the door before she could stop and think about what she was doing and she only stopped once she reached Keith's door and had her hand poised to knock.

She slowly lowered her hand.

“What am I doing?” Katla whispered to herself, backing away. She didn't really want to wake him after their late night up on the holo-deck just because she suffered from a little nightmare.

Instead of bothering Keith, Katla turned to the other person who had been there for her through the years.

She didn't bother knocking on the door and instead opened it right up before stepping just inside the doorway. “Shiro?” she whispered, hoping to gently wake him. “Shiro, can I sleep in here?”

Shiro made a groaning sound. “Katla, wha...? Yeah. Of course you can.”

Katla crossed the room and slid under the blankets next to Shiro, cuddling in close and breathing in his soothing scent as she closed her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Mmm hmm... S'everything alright?” he slurred.

“Just a nightmare,” Katla admitted, seeing no point in hiding it. “I'm okay. Just didn't want to be alone.”

Shiro didn't ask why she didn't go to Keith. He simply wrapped an arm around her, silently offering the comfort she sought, which helped her drift peacefully back to sleep.

Her dreams, if she had any, were peaceful after that and when Katla woke again it was with the slow awareness that she was wrapped up in Shiro's warm embrace. Rather than feel embarrassed about running to him like a lost cub, Katla purred and snuggled against him, eliciting a chuckle from her mentor.

“Sleep well?” he asked.

Katla nodded. “Thanks for letting me stay.”

“I meant it when I said that I'm here whenever you need me,” Shiro told her. “Do you want to talk about your nightmare?”

“Nah, I can't even remember what it was about. Probably nothing important,” Katla said. She breathed in deeply and then extracted herself from the blankets and Shiro's hold, shivering as she got out into the chillier air of the room despite the long sleeves of her borrowed nightgown. “It did help me work up an appetite though. I'm _starving_.”

“Oh? Are you sure it isn't because of your late night adventure to the holo-deck?” Shiro teased.

Katla sputtered in surprise. “Wha- but how did you know about that?!”

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “You grew up in a secretive organization whose primary focus is covertly gathering information and you're _really_ going to ask me how I found out?”

“Fair point,” Katla muttered, looking away from him. She left before he could tease her anymore and retreated to her room where she dressed in a clean set of clothing that she found in the drawers. It was too soft and too bright for her tastes, but she supposed it was preferable to wearing her sweat-soaked uniform for a third day. (She'd have to make sure and ask Hunk how they handled laundry in the castle.)

She ran a brush through her hair before leaving her room. Once she was back in the hall, she found that Shiro had rounded up Keith and Lance, who were also dressed and ready for a new day.

Keith bent over and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek, wishing her a good morning before straightening back up. “Ready to go play nice with the Alteans?”

Katla crinkled her nose at the reminder.

After his lunch with Allura the day before, Shiro returned with news that they would have breakfast with their hosts to try and get to know each other better.

To say that they were not looking forward to it was an understatement.

“I think I'd rather eat more food goo,” Lance said with a loud groan.

Shiro gave him an unimpressed look. “They're willing to make an effort for us and I'd like it if we did the same for them. Listen, Allura said she wants to talk to us about the Lions today, so please be on your best behavior. If you don't have anything nice to say, then just don't say anything.”

“Now you sound like mom,” Katla teased him.

“Does that mean you'll listen to me?” Shiro asked.

“It means I'll think about it,” Katla cheekily responded.

Keith coughed to try and cover up his laugh, but he couldn't fool Katla. He was well aware of how often she listened to what her mom told her to do, mostly because he was right there by her side whenever it happened.

Shiro didn't bother trying to wrangle a promise out of any of them and settled for getting them over to the dining room without Lance feigning illness to try and get out of it.

Katla wasn't going to pretend like she knew what was going through Lance's head. She would have thought he'd be excited to be around other Alteans, but instead, he was taking even longer to warm up to them than he did on a base surrounded by those he had grown up calling the enemy. She'd call it a puzzle except he'd been pretty vocal about his reasons for not liking them.

“Hey,” she said quietly, nudging his arm as they approached the dining room. “You can handle this.”

Lance managed a smile just for her. “I think I deserve a reward after this.”

“When we go down to the holo-deck I'll let you make fun of Keith when I trip him up.”

“Hey!” Keith protested.

All of their joking subsided once they were standing in front of the door to the dining room and Katla immediately found herself missing the playful atmosphere they had cultivated on their walk over.

Maybe Shiro had a good point about learning to get along and work together. (Something that would be no problem with Hunk, who was friendly enough that she _wanted_ to get along with him.) Being angry and annoyed wasn't only exhausting, it also meant they were no closer to figuring out a way to get home.

If only the Red Lion were a little less stubborn.

The door slid open and Allura rose from her seat at the head of the table to welcome them to breakfast, which was already laid out. Coran, who sat at her left, nodded in greeting, while Hunk, who was on her right, lifted a hand and waved cheerfully.

Breakfast went well, all things considered, though Lance didn't say a word to anyone the entire meal, and Allura struggled to get Coran involved in any conversation for more than a few ticks. Allura, Shiro, and Hunk were the ones who kept things flowing, but even with that Katla was thankful when they all finished eating and the kitchen robots arrived to clear the table.

“I've given it some thought and I believe that the first thing we need to do is locate the other Lions,” Allura stated. “It's only when all five of them are together that Voltron can be formed.”

“Voltron?” Katla murmured the question to Keith, who shrugged.

Apparently, she wasn't quiet enough, because Allura turned to Hunk with a look of surprise. “I thought you said that you told them!”

“Didn't I?” Hunk asked, sounding confused. “I thought... I must have only told them about the Lions and how I think they're the new paladins.”

Allura sighed. “It's alright, Hunk. Voltron is, well, it's what happens when the five Lions combine into one. The original paladins used him to keep peace throughout the galaxy. The four of you will use him to defeat Zarkon and return peace to the universe.”

Katla had a question dancing on the tip of her tongue (or rather, _many_ questions), but Keith beat her to it.

“Shouldn't there be five of us? One for each Lion?”

“You are correct,” Allura acknowledged. “Currently, we're going on the assumption that the four of you are chosen because the Red Lion brought you here. It either means that we have yet to meet the fifth or that there is something preventing them from being here with us.”

The second Allura was done speaking, Katla jumped in with a round of rapid-fire questions and only stopped because Shiro pointedly cleared his throat. She would have slumped back and pouted if not for the fact that Allura began to carefully address each of her questions.

Katla didn't fully know what Shiro and the princess had talked about the day before, but whatever it was had put Allura in a more agreeable mood.

“We do not currently know where the three missing Lions are, however, I believe I have a way of locating them. You see, each Lion has their own unique energy signature and their method of choosing their paladin involves finding someone whose quintessence closely mirrors their own. Once they do that, it creates a bond between Lion and paladin. Using that bond, I should be able to locate the missing three _and_ discover who has been chosen by which Lion.”

It all sounded a little far-fetched to Katla. Quintessence was just energy. Some forms of it could be traced, but she'd never heard of it forming connections or bonds that could be followed over long distances.

Allura took a moment to look around at them all. “I will need to sit with each of you but only one at a time. It's a process that could take vargas before I can see any kind of connection, so it would be best to only do one per day.”

Lance scowled.

“I don't mean to be rude, but I don't see how any of what you're saying is possible. I mean, the Empire has had all of this time to track down the Lions and they've only come close to one of them, as far as we know. So how is it that you can track their energy without knowing which direction to look?” Katla asked.

To her surprise (and likely to Shiro's relief) Allura didn't appear at all bothered by the question.

“It's because I won't be using technology to track them, but a gift passed down from my mother,” Allura said with a smile.

Coran made a small noise of protest.

Allura held up a hand to stop whatever he was about to say. “It's alright, Coran. The Aspects that are gifted to Alteans are hardly a secret that needs to be kept and I am proud to speak of mine.”

What followed was a crash course in what Allura called Altean “aspects”, which Katla eagerly listened to and absorbed. It had never occurred to her to ask Lance about _how_ he was able to shape-shift and being handed the information was an eye-opener. (Just how strong was Lance if he was able to hold his shift for as long as he did?) But what sounded the most interesting by far was the Aspect of Spirit, which allowed Allura to manipulate quintessence and use it in a way that sounded like magic.

“Every living thing leaves behind a trace amount of quintessence wherever it goes, and that includes the Lions,” Allura explained. “When the Red Lion responded to you, Keith, it formed a connection between the two of you. Theoretically, since each of you has had contact with her and because we're going by the assumption that the Red Lion brought you all here because you're meant to be the new paladins, that means you each now have a connection with the Lion who most closely mirrors your quintessence.”

“But if the Red Lion also has a bond with the others, couldn't you just use her to find them?” Keith asked.

Allura nodded. “You raise an excellent point, Keith. We currently have two of the Lions here at the Castle and I could use either of them, provided that they allow me to get close. I'd prefer keeping that option as a back-up plan. The real question is: who would like to go first?”

Keith and Katla exchanged a quick look. There was no question in their minds as to who would volunteer.

Sure enough, Shiro told her that he would go first. He stood and quietly reminded Katla, Keith, and Lance to be on their best behavior while he was away, and then followed Allura out of the dining room.

She didn't speak as she led him through the halls and up several staircases, but Shiro found that the silence didn't bother him. Instead, it allowed him time to get his thoughts in order. It didn't take him long to land on a somewhat important question that none of them thought to ask.

“Princess, you said that the Lions choose their pilots based on who best mirrors their quintessence, but what does that mean, exactly?” Shiro asked politely.

Allura slowed a little as she responded. “An easier way to put it would be to say that there are certain... qualities that the Lions seem to be drawn to. For example, the Red Lion is the fastest of the five and is known for being stubborn and a little temperamental. She needs a paladin who can keep up. Someone who relies on instinct more than skill.”

That _did_ sound like Keith, though Shiro didn't dare say that out loud.

“The Black Lion, as the head of Voltron, needs someone with exemplary leadership skills. Someone able to make the right decisions in the heat of battle and who has the respect of their fellow paladins,” Allura said. There was an odd tone to her voice as she spoke of the Black Lion and she narrowed her eyes into an almost glare as she stared down the hall.

Shiro eyed her curiously but didn't say a word, hoping she would tell him more on her own, but she didn't get the chance to as they came to a door and Allura stopped walking.

“This is the Serenity Garden. It was designed by my mother to aid with my training when I was young. I find it helps me center myself whenever I need to focus and that makes it perfect for what needs done today,” she explained.

“So, it's for meditation?” Shiro guessed.

Allura nodded and opened the door.

The Serenity Garden lived up to its name, though it looked nothing like what Shiro expected it to. He'd imagined a literal garden full of green, growing things, but instead, there were white walls made of a stone that bore some resemblance to the material used in the rest of the castle, but far more water-resistant as it had to withstand the constant flow of a fountain, which sent water cascading down three of the walls of the room. It gathered in a shallow pool that ran the length of the walls and extended no more than a foot from the base of them.

The lights were embedded into the walls and refracted through the water to create an effect that made Shiro feel as though they were underwater. He held up his hand as he stepped inside and watched it play across his skin with some fascination.

“We should get comfortable. It's hard to say how long this will take,” Allura suggested, gesturing toward the pile of large, squishy pillows in the center of the room.

* * *

They didn't stay in the dining room for very long after Shiro and Allura left. Lance had barely paid attention to what was said between the time the pair left to the rest of them getting up, but as he tried to follow Keith and Katla, who he assumed were going back to the holo-deck, Keith stopped him and gestured toward Hunk.

“Weren't you listening? Hunk wants your help looking over the shuttles down in the hangar while we go with Coran to check on that teludav thing,” Keith said.

“I didn't agree to that!” Lance yelped.

“We know. We volunteered you to go while you were daydreaming,” Keith said, making a sort of 'go on' gesture. “It'll be fine, Lance. We'll see you in a few vargas.”

Lance's jaw dropped as Katla and Keith walked away, leaving him completely alone with Hunk. It felt like he was waking into a nightmare and he didn't know how to get out of it.

He didn't know the first thing about Altean shuttles! It wasn't like they had any back home and even if they did, he still doubted that he would know anything about them. That honor would be reserved for those with the skills to properly understand how to fly and make repairs to them.

And besides that, he wanted _nothing_ to do with the other Alteans.

Lance knew he was supposed to be trying to get along with them and he didn't want to disappoint Shiro, but he just couldn't bring himself to try.

He didn't want to get along with them.

He didn't want to like them.

And if not for the fact that knowing which shuttles were in working condition would benefit him, Lance would have gone back to his room and locked the door. Was it childish? Sure. But ultimately it would be better than losing his temper and screwing everything up.

Lance counted himself lucky when he saw that there were only three shuttles in the hangar. They were significantly smaller than the Red Lion and were also bulky, which led him to assume that they were solely for transport rather than defending the castle. He could be wrong. It could always be a case of appearances being deceiving, they just didn't look maneuverable to him.

“Alright, let's pop one of these open and see what we're doing with!” Hunk said enthusiastically, rubbing his hands together.

Lance silently followed him to the first shuttle and watched with mild interest as Hunk opened the access plate that protected the engine. He couldn't make heads or tails of any of the wires or tubes or other components that were inside, so instead, he paid more attention to Hunk and tried to judge what state it was in based on the expressions on his face.

“Looks like some stress damage along this support beam. It never got fixed after the last time it flew, so we'll have to replace that. Also looks like the cooling system will need flushed, but I kind of expected that. All of them will need a good thorough cleaning,” Hunk said, swiping a finger across the surface of one of the tubes. “And, of course, everything will need to be recharged. The crystals will be so drained that we'll be lucky if any of them have the smallest amount of power left for Allura to spark. We may need to find a Balmera, though I'd hate to set off without any of these working, even if we have all of the Lions.”

Lance wondered if he was supposed to respond.

Hunk hummed as he leaned in deeper, trying to see a little farther back. “I'll need a scanner to give it a proper check up. Could you grab it for me? It's the smallest device with the orange handle hanging on that wall over there.”

Lance turned his attention to the wall Hunk gestured at. There were all kinds of tools hanging on pegs, but he easily spotted a small one with its handle entirely wrapped in orange. He retrieved it and took it back to Hunk, who thanked him with a beaming smile.

“I always like to look it over myself first to see what I can spot, then I use the scanner to catch what I've missed or can't see from this angle,” Hunk explained as he turned it on and pointed it into the engine. “It probably sounds like I'm making more work for myself, but this is about testing myself and the scanner. If there's something obvious that I've missed then that means I need to work on my skills. If the scanner misses something that _I_ noticed, then it needs to be re-calibrated.”

Lance made a sort of agreeing sound just because it seemed like the right thing to do.

Hunk turned on the scanner and waited a few ticks before launching a set of discs from the top of it. They hovered in the air and beeped as they lit up blue before zipping into the compartment to take readings.

Hunk turned the scanner so that Lance could see the screen as well. “See? It picked up on the stress damage I mentioned, but there are also hairline fractures along that same piece.”

Once the scanner was through with its evaluation, Hunk printed out a list of repairs that needed done and stuck it to the side of the shuttle right next to the engine panel. “Coran will want to take a look before we start any major repairs. This is his area of expertise, after all. All I can do right now is remove the power crystal and take it to Allura. Did I already say she'd be able to recharge them? Her strongest gift is Spirit, so she can use her own energy to refuel these small crystals.”

They moved onto the next one, which was alright aside from a bit of dust and another crystal in need of power. Hunk slapped a label on it anyway and then there was only one shuttle left to examine.

Lance started to make his way over to it, but only got a few steps before he realized Hunk wasn't following him. He slowed to a stop and looked back to see the other Altean was bent over the housing chamber for the crystal and carefully disconnecting it. Lance stifled a groan and instead crossed his arms over his chest.

“You know, there's something that's been bothering me,” Hunk said conversationally. “I can't explain what it is, exactly. It's more of a feeling.” He yanked the crystal free from its compartment and held it out towards Lance. “Come here and hold this for me?”

Lance hesitantly walked forward and took it from Hunk. It was a pretty thing, roughly the size of his fist and shaped sort of like an obelisk with a wider and broken base. As he looked at it, he started to see a soft glow in the center.

“I kept thinking about that first night when I gave you and Katla the crystal that powered your device, even though it shouldn't have been able to. But no matter how many times I went through that memory, something wasn't adding up,” Hunk said quietly.

When Lance tore his gaze away from the crystal in his hands, it was to find Hunk watching him with a sad look in his eyes.

“Lance, only an Altean has the ability to recharge these crystals once they're removed from the Balmera.”

Lance's stomach swooped unpleasantly. He took a step back in alarm as his heart-rate accelerated, his words catching in his throat along with his breath as panic began to take hold.

“It's true, isn't it? You're Altean?” Hunk asked, his voice cracking. “We're not the last ones?”

“No.”

Hunk took a step forward. “Lance, it's okay. You don't need to hide who you are. You're safe here!”

Lance shook his head and shoved the crystal against Hunk's chest, barely giving him time to grab it before he let go. “No, you're wrong,” he said before turning on his heel and fleeing the hangar, leaving Hunk even more confused than before.

* * *

Keith was pretty sure that Lance was going to try and smother both him and Katla in their sleep after the stunt they pulled. He couldn't bring himself to feel too apologetic about it, since splitting up any other way would mean that he would have to be apart from Katla and he still didn't trust the Alteans enough to leave her alone with them. (Not that Katla couldn't take care of herself – she was trained by Shiro, after all.)

And since she was interested in learning more about something called a teludav, Keith was going along with her.

“This is so cool!” Katla enthused as Coran opened the door for them. “Keith, we're the first people in _ten-thousand years_ who have the opportunity to learn how Alteans used to travel across vast expanses of space in a short amount of time! This is technology that even Slav hasn't figured out and he's been working towards this for _decaphoebs!”_

Keith smiled fondly as she continued to ramble on about how it was theorized to work. Even Coran chuckled in amusement at some of the ideas that had been proposed over the years.

“I think you'll find that it is both more simple and infinitely more complicated than any of that,” Coran said as the door slid open. “May I present to you: the teludav chamber!”

It was a smaller room than Keith expected, with consoles to the left and right along the walls. Directly across from the entrance was a circular opening that led into a long tube lined with odd-looking discs.

“Amazing,” Katla breathed in soft awe. “How does it all work? Do you put those discs into your ships and that's how you travel?”

Coran shook his head. “Each and every one of those lenses is precisely where it needs to be. Their placement is carefully calculated down to the very last detail so that the teludav works with the optimal power needed to create wormholes.”

“Like the one that brought us here?” Keith asked.

Coran looked a little startled by the question. “You came here by wormhole? I suppose if there was residual power left over...” He shook his head. “Yes, I imagine that it's _exactly_ like the one that brought you here.”

Keith glanced over at Katla, who was practically _vibrating_ , she was so excited. “So, what do you need us to do? I mean, we've never encountered tech like this, so how can we help?”

“It's quite simple, really. Our job tonight is to clean each and every one of those lenses and make sure there are no cracks or chips in them. That way, once we're ready to lift off and leave Arus, the castle will be in tip-top shape and ready to fly wherever we need!”

Wait.

Fly?

Katla reacted to what Coran was saying a split second before Keith could.

“This castle is a _ship!?_ ”

As Katla began to ask a whole round of new questions, Keith mentally crossed off going back to the holo-deck on his list of plans for the day. There was zero chance of convincing Katla to train when there was even more new technology for her to explore than they'd initially thought and he was going to be by her side every step of the way.


	6. Patience Yields Focus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter may have gotten a little long, but who says that's a bad thing? I hope you all enjoy it! And once again, thank you so much for all of the nice comments!
> 
> For anyone who hasn't heard, there are _two_ Kidge events/weeks coming up in April! The first one is Kidgeweek, which will be held from April 15-22. And the second one is the Kidge Spring Event, which will be held the week of April 25-May 1.
> 
> Kidgeweek Prompts: https://s1lverpaladin.tumblr.com/post/644576180036616192/kidge-week-is-coming
> 
> Kidge Spring Event: https://kidgespringevent.tumblr.com/

“We can take a break if you need one.”

“No,” Shiro refused, even as he shifted his position to try and get comfortable. “I've got this. I just need time.”

Allura sighed softly. “Shirotak, this isn't something we can rush or force to happen. If you're having difficulty, the best thing we can do is take a break and try again later. It could even be that the Serenity Garden isn't working for you and that we should change location.”

“This room is fine, I just need more time,” Shiro stubbornly reiterated.

What he really needed to do was focus, but that wasn't going to happen if Allura _didn't stop talking_ to him. He breathed in deeply and then let it go, doing his best to clear his mind of the stray thoughts bouncing around in his head, but no matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't go away.

Another few doboshes passed and Shiro edged a little closer to admitting that he really could use a break. It was his second day of sitting in the Serenity Garden. Maybe what he really needed was to work off a little energy on the holo-deck and then try the whole meditation thing again.

He opened his eyes and saw Allura sitting perfectly still across from him, her legs crossed and hands resting neatly on her lap.

Shiro cleared his throat. “Princess, I don't think this is working.”

Her eyes fluttered open. “Perhaps we need to try a new technique? Although I must say, we've been in here for some time. Would you care to take a break and try again later?”

“Only if you need one,” Shiro responded, torn between his desire to triumph over whatever was holding him back and his want to get up and stretch his legs. Going along with whatever Allura decided was an easy way for him to not need to choose for himself.

Allura hummed as she unfolded her legs and stood. “I think we're in sore need of a short break. Shall we go see how the others are doing? Coran said he wanted to show off the Bridge today, so I'm sure that's where they are.”

“Sounds good to me,” Shiro said.

After all that he was told the night before about how the castle was actually a ship (as well as how the Altean method travel involved opening wormholes through space-time), he wanted to see it all for himself. A visit to the Bridge sounded like the perfect way to sate that curiosity.

Shiro got up and followed Allura up through the castle, making small talk as they went. He still wasn't sure what topics were safe to broach with her, so he stuck with simple things, like asking about her training and answering with details about his own – without revealing the existence of the Blade of Marmora, of course.

When they reached the Bridge, it was to find the odd trio of Coran, Katla, and Keith, who were all standing around the central podium. Katla appeared to be talking Coran's ears off while wildly gesticulating, and thankfully, the orange-haired Altean looked more excited than bothered by her enthusiasm.

A feeling of pride swelled within Shiro as he watched them get along.

“Hunk's not here?” Allura murmured with a frown.

“Maybe he needed to do something in the kitchen?” Shiro guessed.

“He could be,” Allura acknowledged as she stepped deeper into the Bridge. “Coran, how are things looking?”

While Coran cheerfully informed her of the state of the Castle-ship, Shiro looked around in the hope of spotting Lance. He'd feigned illness when they left for breakfast, but Katla had promised to try and coax him out when Shiro left with Allura.

Shiro looked to Keith, who shook his head in answer to his unasked question.

It appeared she was unsuccessful.

“Shiro, this is so cool!” Katla exclaimed, unknowingly interrupting the silent exchange. “We've been helping Coran map out this quadrant and figure out where the closest Galra outposts are. He thinks we'll be able to track their ships with a little tweaking to the Castle's sensors! It won't be perfect, of course, but it should get us close.”

“That's incredible news!” Shiro said, genuinely impressed.

“How are things going with you?” Keith asked.

Shiro couldn't bring himself to say that he was struggling with such a simple task, so he shrugged and hoped that would put them at ease. “It's going a little more slowly than I'd hoped, but we'll get there.”

“Well, it's just like you _always_ tell us,” Katla said, sharing an amused look with Keith.

And then, in such perfect unison that they must have practiced, both of them said: “Patience yields focus.”

Shiro made a soft sound of protest at hearing his own words used against him. Words that he'd thought up in the heat of the moment in the hope that they would calm down two very rambunctious cubs and give him a few ticks to breathe before needing to avert trouble once again. Words that he'd apparently said more frequently than he thought if Keith and Katla were fully prepared to throw them back at him at the first available opportunity.

But maybe there _was_ something to it.

Patience yields focus.

Was that really what he needed?

“So, how long have you been waiting to use that one against me?” Shiro asked them.

“Forever,” Katla said at the same time that Keith responded with: “Years.”

Shiro hid his amusement by turning his head as though he was checking on Allura and Coran. It also bought him a few ticks to decide the best way to change the topic.

“I noticed that Lance isn't here. What happened?” he asked.

“He didn't want to come out. Keith threatened to take him food goo for lunch if he wasn't out by then, but even that didn't work. We think something must have happened between him and Hunk,” Katla said, keeping her voice low.

“We haven't even _seen_ Hunk today,” Keith added on. “Coran said something about him looking into some issue with a blockage in the main kitchen and that it'll take him all day to fix it.”

“I don't buy it,” Katla said, crossing her arms over her chest. “They're avoiding us – or each other – and I want to know why.”

There wasn't anything that Shiro could do about Hunk, but he _could_ go down and try to talk to Lance before his next session in the Serenity Garden. Maybe a more gentle approach would get him to reveal something.

Shiro sighed. “Alright, I'll see what I can do. But before I go, how are the two of you doing? It looked like you were having fun when I came in.”

“Well, I can't speak for Keith, but I'm having a great time! Now that Coran knows we're not going to try and stab him the moment he turns his back, he's showing us all of the different parts of the Castle and how it works. I'm learning so much! Slav would be jealous for sure,” Katla said, throwing a not-so-subtle grin in Shiro's direction.

As always when Slav was mentioned in his presence, Shiro shuddered. “What about you, Keith?”

“Some of it's a little over my head, but Coran pulled up a map of the land around the Castle for me to look over, so I might do a little exploring later,” Keith said.

“Any natives nearby?” Shiro asked.

Keith nodded. “A small village to the southwest. They don't seem to be a threat, but I thought I'd look into it just in case.”

“Don't go alone,” was Shiro's final instruction before he left them to their work and went over to talk to Allura about his change in plans. He waited for her to finish her conversation with Coran before telling her that he'd like to go check on Lance before they returned to the Serenity Garden.

Allura looked relieved to hear that and Shiro didn't have to wonder why for long. “Coran says Hunk may be feeling rather under-the-weather, so I thought I'd drop by the kitchens to make sure everything is alright. Shall we meet back at the Garden in one varga?”

Shiro agreed and they left the Bridge together, splitting up a few floors down as Allura headed towards the main kitchen. Before he knew it, Shiro was knocking on Lance's door and hoping for a response.

Nothing.

He tried again.

Still, he was met only by silence.

Shiro wasn't going to let that deter him. If Lance didn't want to come out and talk to him face-to-face then he didn't have to, but Shiro was still going to talk to him and hope that would be enough.

“Lance, I'm not going to claim to know how you're feeling,” he said to the door. “It's clear that being here is difficult for you and that making you be alone with Hunk was a mistake on our part, and I apologize for that. For what it's worth, I believe that working with them is our best shot at making a difference in this war. And maybe it's just what your people need as well.

“I know you've never fully trusted us, even after all of this time. The risk to your friends and family is too great for you to take the chance that things could go wrong, but now we're here in this old Altean ship with three people who believe themselves the last of their people. I think – I _know_ – they would do everything within their power to protect your family. But all of this is _your_ secret to reveal. None of us can make that decision for you.”

Shiro sighed and leaned against the wall outside of Lance's door. “I have a little while before I meet back up with Allura, so if you want to come out and talk, I'm here.”

* * *

Hunk was remarkably stubborn when he wanted to be.

The first thing Allura asked upon entering the kitchen and seeing trays upon trays of small honeyed cakes and tartlets cooling on racks was: “Alright, what's wrong?”

Hunk blinked in surprise, pausing in stirring a bowl of batter for a tick before remembering what he was doing. “Nothing. What makes you think something's wrong?”

“Because you're stress baking and you only do that when something's wrong,” Allura said, gesturing to the counter-tops. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“There's nothing to talk about because nothing is wrong.”

Allura raised an eyebrow in disbelief and stared Hunk down in the hope that he would crack and spill the truth. But while he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, he didn't talk and she eventually gave up on that approach.

“How's the meditation going?” Hunk asked before she could come up with a new line of questioning.

“Not as well as I'd like,” Allura admitted.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Hunk repeated Allura's words, probably intentionally.

She crossed the room and slid onto the bar-stool at the front counter. “Actually, I _would_ like to talk about it. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. Why can't I connect to him? Do you think it could be because of how long we were asleep? Or is it something else?”

All of the questions that had built up over the many vargas that she spent with Shirotak in the Serenity Garden came spilling out.

“It might not be you,” Hunk pointed out.

“But what if it is?” Allura persisted. “He's trying so hard to do this, so what if it's my lack of faith that has put this impenetrable wall between us and won't allow us to form a connection? Or it could be that I've gone for so long without any practice. Even if to us it only feels like a few quintants, it has been ten-thousand years since we were last awake.”

Hunk gently set aside his bowl of batter. “I've been having difficulty keeping my emotions in check. Everything felt so... _loud_ when we first woke up, but it's getting better. I only needed to relax and rebuild my mental shields, just like you taught me. Maybe you need to do something similar.”

“I feel as though that's all I've been doing,” Allura said with a soft sigh.

Hunk ducked down to a lower cabinet and removed a loaf pan, which he set down on the counter-top. “Well, if it's not you, then maybe the answer is to find a way to help Shiro. Maybe jumping right into meditation isn't enough. You could try talking first. Find something you both have in common and make a connection that way.”

“Is that what you tried to do with Lance?”

The way Hunk tensed up was the only indication he gave that he was bothered by the question. “I... I don't want to talk about it.”

Allura let it go. “I suppose we could talk some more... We've led such different lives that it's difficult to find much that we have in common.”

“Well, you both want to stop Zarkon,” Hunk pointed out. “That could be the place to start.”

Allura stayed to talk to Hunk for a while longer before leaving him to his baking so she could meet up with Shirotak at the Serenity Garden. She arrived a little earlier than she meant to, but that only gave her the opportunity to relax and reconsider how they were approaching the meditation.

She thought back to her own training and the steps her mother walked her through each time they sat down together. She thought about what Hunk said about needing to take time to rebuild the walls of his mental landscape so that he wouldn't be so affected by the emotions of those around him. And she thought about how she'd approached it so far, trying to take into consideration what _wasn't_ working so they didn't repeat the same thing over and over again.

Allura settled into her spot in the center of the room. She closed her eyes and breathed, letting her mind drift while she waited for Shirotak to arrive.

Cool and comforting darkness slid over her, blanketing her thoughts. She felt weightless, as though she was floating in midair even though she could still feel the hard floor beneath her. From within the darkness, an ornate doorway began to form.

Allura backed away from it as she breathed out and opened her eyes, just as the door to the Garden slid open and Shirotak stepped inside.

“You haven't been waiting for long, have you?” he asked, concern lacing his voice.

Allura shook her head. “Only a few doboshes. Come and sit, I have something new I'd like to try.”

Shirotak joined her without hesitation, mirroring her posture as he sat across from her. “What do you need me to do?”

“Take my hands and close your eyes,” Allura instructed and held out both of her hands, palms up. “Relax your thoughts and let them drift by without lingering on any of them for too long. Focus on the feeling of my hands in yours. Allow me to be your guide into our shared mental landscape.”

“Mental landscape?” Shirotak repeated with some confusion.

“It's... How do I put this?” Allura mused, struggling to remember the way her mother described it to her so very long ago. “When you close your eyes and imagine yourself floating in a dark void. Sometimes there are sparks of colors. Sometimes you can see flashes of images. It's a place you can easily shape during meditation to try and organize your thoughts and everyone has a different way of creating it. I find the darkness comforting, but my mother loved bright landscapes so hers typically took an appearance similar to this room. With what we're trying to accomplish here, I will build a space where we can merge our mental landscapes together and hopefully see a representation of the bonds you share with others.

“The method I had us use before was much more difficult. It meant each of us needed to reach a perfect mental state before any sort of connection could be made and that's why it wasn't working. Something like that takes _phoebs_ to build and I am ashamed that I did not realize it sooner,” Allura said apologetically.

“No harm was done, princess,” Shirotak responded as he took her hands into his much larger ones. “I'm ready whenever you are.”

Allura couldn't help but smile. There was something about Shirotak that made her feel... _safe_.

He felt safe, which was a word she never expected to be able to apply to any Galra after Zarkon's betrayal.

“Alright. I suspect I already know which Lion has chosen you, but let us find out for sure.”

* * *

Enough was enough.

After a quintant-and-a-half of trying and failing to coax Lance out of his room, Keith was ready to drag him outside kicking and screaming if it came down to it. Approaching him in anger probably wasn't the best idea, and Shiro would probably tell him to go work it out on the holo-deck instead, but Keith wasn't in the mood for patience or whatever, especially when all of their attempts to talk to Lance in a calm and collected manner had completely failed thus far.

Maybe what Lance really needed was someone to yell at.

Keith figured he would be perfect for that.

He was still courteous enough to knock first and give Lance a chance to answer before he barged in. “It's Keith! Open the door!” he called out. “Katla taught me how to unlock all of these, so one way or another I-”

The door opened, cutting off the rest of Keith's sentence. Lance frowned back at him with obvious bags beneath his eyes, though the rest of his appearance was presentable. “You don't need to yell.”

“You've ignored everyone else,” Keith said, pushing past Lance to walk inside. He raised an eyebrow when he saw a number of glowing crystals scattered across the floor. “Uh, what have you been doing in here? Where did you get all of this?”

“I went out and got them from the storeroom where Katla built the communication device,” Lance said defensively. “Look, it doesn't matter. It isn't important.”

“Not important? You've been locked up in here for over a quintant! It had _better_ be important!” Keith said, raising his voice. “I don't know what's going on with you and I really don't care about what excuse you have, but you need to knock it off!”

Lance stiffened, his eyes flashing blue as his Shift slipped. “You have no idea-”

“What I see is someone who refuses to look at the big picture. Allura, Hunk, and Coran are _not_ our enemies, and finding them here, working _together_ with them, means we might actually have a chance to make a difference in this war in a big way. Because maybe you didn't pick up on this during the phoebs you've been with us, but the Blade of Mamora can't topple the empire by itself. _No one trusts us_ long enough to give us a chance and work alongside us, but these Lions – this Voltron thing – this could be our chance.”

“Hunk found out I'm Altean and it freaked me out, okay!?” Lance shouted back.

Keith eased up when he noticed how badly Lance was trembling.

“I know you don't get it! You look at them and see hope for the future, but for me it's different. I grew up believing that we were _abandoned_ by the royal family. They gave up and let Zarkon win. There was no Voltron to come around and save the day for us. My people hid for deca-phoebs because of that. Disguising themselves so no one would ever suspect that they were Altean and when they were discovered, it was by someone they thought they could trust. So forgive me if I'm no so quick to trust someone just because they say they're an ally,” Lance said fiercely.

Keith was silent for a moment to give Lance a chance to catch his breath and say anything else that he needed to. “So, how did he find out?”

Lance slumped his shoulders as his fight drained away. “I can recharge the crystals. I didn't realize it until he handed one to me. My Spirit has always been a passive Aspect and I have no idea how to control it. I went out and grabbed some more so I could try and figure it out, but I still don't know.”

“And that's something only Alteans can do?”

Lance nodded.

“Well, if it helps at all, Hunk hasn't said a word to anyone. He's been avoiding us too,” Keith told him. “He spent all of yesterday working in the kitchen and today he made some excuse about cleaning up the engine room. This Castle is a ship, by the way. We learned that while you were busy hiding.”

“A ship? Seriously?” Lance asked, blinking in surprise. “I guess that makes sense. I hadn't thought about it before, but how else would it end up here?” He fell silent for a moment as he sat down on the edge of his bed, picking up one of the crystals laying there. “You all must be pretty annoyed with me.”

“Shiro is worried, I was annoyed, and Katla's probably somewhere in-between,” Keith said. “You can make it up to us by coming out for lunch. Have you even eaten?”

Lance nodded. “Someone's been leaving food outside my door. It wasn't you guys?”

“Nope. I was going to bring you food goo like I threatened to, but Katla told me not to. She seemed to think you'd come out if you got hungry enough. It must have been someone else.” Keith didn't have to think hard about who it could be and judging by the dawning look of realization on Lance's face, he was figuring it out too.

“Quiznak,” Lance muttered, running a hand through his hair. “Where did you say Hunk is? The engine room?”

“Yeah, it's down on one of the lower floors, kind of in the center of the Castle,” Keith said. He watched Lance for a moment, wondering if he really intended to down to talk to Hunk so soon. “You know, if you're not ready to see him yet, you could come with me instead. Shiro said I should take someone with me when I go outside to take a look around and it seems like you could use some time out of this Castle.”

Lance dropped his hand back to his side and raised an eyebrow as he looked up at Keith. “Why are you asking me? This sounds like the sort of thing you and Katla would run off and do together.”

Keith opened his mouth to say that Lance would know why Katla couldn't go if he hadn't been avoiding them but stopped himself at the last tick. “Shiro finished his session with Allura, so Katla is with her today. He's the paladin of the Black Lion, if you were wondering.”

“I guess that means I'm next.”

“Yeah, but not until tomorrow at the earliest,” Keith said and then turned and reopened the door. “Are you coming or not?”

Lance slid off the edge of his bed and shoved his hands into the pockets on his new pants, which were dark blue. “Sure. I think I could use some fresh air.”

Without waiting to see if Lance was going to follow him, Keith took the lead and began making his way to the front door. It had been so long since he last had the chance to get outside and _enjoy_ it – every other time he was on a mission of some sort. He just hoped Coran was right about the locals being friendly.

* * *

It really did feel like she was floating.

Katla hadn't fully believed Shiro when he described what it was like to let go of actively thinking and to just exist, but it was terrifying and freeing all at once. Allura's warm hands were the only thing anchoring her to reality and Katla focused on them as hard as she could until she was convinced she could _see_ the Altean, floating across from her in a sort of void, her white hair billowing around her like a soft cloud.

Little-by-little, a web of what resembled colorful string began to appear around them, stretching near and far and in all directions. Katla tried to reach out and touch one, but Allura stopped her.

“Be careful,” Allura advised. “They're delicate.”

Katla lowered her hand back over Allura's. “What is all of this? Is it real?”

Allura nodded. “This is our combined image of a mental landscape and those are a physical manifestation of the connections you share with others. I've always liked the idea of it being like a web, so this is the form it takes when I do this, but it could take any form.”

“So... could it also be like a hallway full of doors and windows? Mom always likes to say that eyes are the 'windows to the soul' or something and that's how she knows when I'm lying. Oh! Could you make it a computer screen? With everything color-coded?”

Allura laughed gently, but not mockingly. “With a lot of work, I suppose I could change it. Most Alteans pick one method when they're young and then stick with it all their lives. It makes things less confusing. My mother always said that the bonds we share with others are part of what weaves a great tapestry of life, and so I began to envision them as strings.”

“This is _so cool!”_ Katla looked around in awe at all of the different strings, wondering who they all linked up to. She'd never stopped to think about how many people she knew. “Which one are we looking for? Is it that gold one?”

“Gold?” Allura repeated, flabbergasted.

Katla nodded and pointed it out. It ran through the center, close to a bundle of five others. “It looks pretty special.”

Allura took a moment to respond. “Yes, it's quite special, but it's not the one we're looking for. The string that connects you to your Lion should have a glow to it, though it will be quite subtle. We're looking for one that is either blue, green, or yellow.”

Katla wanted to ask more about what the golden one meant, but they had a mission to complete, so she turned her attention to the rest and examined them one at a time, hoping to spot the glow that Allura mentioned. There were so many colors, some of them faint and others bright, and Katla found herself getting lost in the web and wondering which ones she'd already looked at.

“There!” Allura raised one hand to point above their heads.

Katla lifted her eyes, following where Allura was pointing until she spotted a string that was such a faded green that it was a wonder it could be seen. If not for the subtle halo surrounding it, it would have gone completely overlooked.

Allura made a gesture and the strings shifted around them, moving further away so they had the space to stand up and get a better look. “Now we just have to follow it back to the Green Lion. What I need you to do is place your hands around the string without touching it. Concentrate on feeling the energy it puts off. The Green Lion carries the element of nature. Of things green and growing. You must strengthen that bond before we will be able to see where the Lion has been hidden.”

Katla nodded, reaching out with trembling hands until they were mere inches from the glowing strand. She breathed in deeply and did her best to feel the energy like she was asked to.

There was definitely _something_ there.

She could feel something that was almost like a pulse. A gentle heartbeat. And then a tingling sensation, as though static electricity was dancing over her hands and making her fur stand on end.

“Where are you?” Katla murmured, staring at the green thread. (Was it getting brighter?) “Show me where you are.”

There was a stronger pulse and then the string vibrated as though someone had plucked it. Katla quickly pulled back her hands and stepped away, afraid that she'd done something wrong, but as she looked up to ask Allura what was going on she was treated to the sight of the void seeming to blur as it shifted around them, pinpricks of light rushing by.

A large, spherical object loomed in the distance, rapidly growing closer until all at once they were floating high above a planet covered in green forests, stars glittering in the space around them.

“Wh-where are we?” Katla stammered, spinning around to try and get a grasp on their new surroundings. “Allura, what's going on?”

“This is where the Green Lion is hidden,” Allura said with a reassuring smile. “You asked to be shown where she is and so she has brought us here.” She paused a moment as she looked around and took it all in. “I think I recognize this place... We appear to be in the Dailix Quadrant. I recognize a few of the stars. And if you look over there, you can see the V2-Kylri Galaxy.”

Katla turned back to the planet, taking a good look at the place her Lion was hidden. “I hope you're right. The Empire hasn't made it out to Dailix yet. From what we can tell, they don't think there's anything of value in this quadrant.”

“Good. That will make it easier to retrieve her,” Allura said with a nod. She took one final look at the stars and the planet and then held her hands out to Katla. “We should return now.”

Katla nodded and took Allura's hands.

And all at once she opened her eyes and found herself back in the Serenity Garden, her back stiff and her legs aching from sitting still for so long. As she slowly stretched out and tried to regain feeling in her toes, Katla felt a growing sense of pride in how much they'd accomplished during their afternoon together.

They were one step closer to stopping Zarkon and the Empire.


End file.
